The Smugglers
by Lucreace
Summary: Alhana and her crew of misfits were perfectly content as they were. Alright, their ship could use a few repairs but they had enough work sneaking things under the radar to keep them in space. That was until a chance encounter during a job sends them away hiding a rather dangerous fugitive whose motivations are unclear.
1. Chapter 1

**So, I decided that this one needed a re-write. I love this story but when I re-read it I was disappointed to noticed how bad some of it is. I've rewritten sections, fixed a load of errors and added rather a lot into it. The story is essentially the same but I just feel it needs updating with some of my improvements.**

 **Thanks**

 **Lu**

It was risky. If the guards discovered the crate had a false bottom and the cargo wasn't the few bottles of Vulcan Brandy but the highly illegal Romulan ale, they'd be in a world of trouble. Still, a job was a job and times weren't easy. The next ten minutes would be crucial. It didn't help that the Star Fleet uniforms they'd managed to acquire seemed to be a size too small, at least for Alhana. Getting rid of the merchandise and getting back aboard the Bird and away from Earth as soon as possible was her main priority. Unfortunately, there were three people in front of her, each with cargo to be checked and of course, each with some problem or another. This could take a while. She leaned a heavy hand on the trolleys handle and sighed.

It was too hot for this kind of work anyway; she wiped sweat from her forehead and flicked it away. Far better to be back in space and away from this place, away and finding the parts they needed. The guards waved through the first set of people and began questioning a pair of Romulans. Alhana listened as they explained they were visiting Earth for personal reasons. They faced some further questions, their bags were yanked open and she lost interest. A group of Orion's joined the line behind her, hemming her in. Their chatter was inane, babbling and utterly annoying. She patted the papers on the pocket, checking they were there for the hundredth time. The line moved up as the Romulans passed through. Please don't let the crew contact me now. It would be just like Kang to patch through a pointless message. She rated him for guts but not brains. If Tig had any sense, he's keep the entire ship under silence until she hailed them. A trail of sweat tickled down her back as the people in front of her were waved through. She swallowed hard, here goes nothing…

"Pass," the guard on the left demanded. Alhana handed over her papers and tried to keep the grin from her face. The guy on the right, who looked bored half to death, gave her cursory once over before turning his attention to the barely dressed Orion woman behind him.

"What's your purpose here?" The first guard asked. His tone told her he was as bored as his companion.

"Delivering these crates to my employer," she said. Damn, sounded sarcastic. She swallowed but remained silent. The guard on her right looked her up and down in a way that made her skin crawl, uniform was too snug for sure, she gave him a derisive look. As if a pathetic human like that would stand a chance!

"Alhana De Torres. It says here that you're a registered engineer." The first one said.

"That's right."

"So why are you delivering crates to a Hugo Rune, a bartender?" he asked checking the pass again, "And why're you wearing blue?"

Alhana rolled her eyes and pushed stray curls from her forehead, "That's an embarrassing point," she said with a sigh, it was a well-rehearsed lie, said so many times that even she was beginning to believe it. "I got into a fight a while back with my senior and I, well, I ran off. Life isn't so great out there that I had second thoughts. I took this job so I could make amends," she said. She wiped her palms on her thighs and did her best to smile. The guard on her right narrowed his eyes. Shit.

"Open the crate." He said. She did as he asked without hesitating. To do so now would be stupid. "Vulcan brandy?" he reached in and took out one of the bottles. The amber liquid sloshed as it was turned upright. "Good quality too."

"Where did you get this?"

"I don't question my employer; I just get the job done. I'm sure you boys can appreciate that."

"That all you got?"

She nodded. The guard on her right handed her pass back. The bottle was replaced and they waved her through. She hurried forward a few paces before putting the lid back on the crate. She eased the hover board forward and exited the building as quickly as she could. A wave of heat hit her as the air conditioned building was left behind. The sky above was clear and the bright sun was making a slow descent to the horizon, hopefully, the day would cool relatively soon. Alhana checked her watch; it was an hour before she was due to meet Hugo. A lot could happen between now and then.

Alhana hailed a cab and demanded it take her to the rendezvous point. The driver looked at her sideward but did her bidding without question. Getting there early wouldn't be a bad thing. Maybe get the whole affair done so she could go. The Credit's Hugo was paying them would get the plasma coils fixed on the Bird. It would mean a trip back home though and that was as risky as being here. The Empire hated having one of their own flying free and they'd not hesitate to bring the entire crew in, which would be a disaster.

London was thriving; the warm weather had brought people outside in droves. The urban scape was nothing compared to the extensive cities on Qo'nos but it had a sort of charm to it nonetheless. Large buildings reached skyward and there were plenty of hover vehicles clogging the lanes. The cab passed a park covered with groups of people eating lunch on the green grass. She shook her head, humans were so… human. What was it her mother had said? Something about humans having a deeper appreciation for the natural world? Whatever it was, it was lost to the depths of time and it wasn't like she could go and ask her. A colossal boom brought her back to the present. "What th-" the words died on her lips as a giant black smoke cloud rose steadily into the air.

"God!" whispered the cab driver. "Looks like something has gone wrong over there!"

"What's over there?" she asked keeping her eyes fixed on the growing cloud of thick black smoke. She hoped it wouldn't spell disaster for her and the mission she was on.

"Offices mainly, Star Fleet archives, few admin buildings."

"Not in the direction we're going?"

"No ma'am," he said with a sniff. Alhana snorted. If these people wanted to blow each other up, who was she to get in the way? The remainder of the journey went smoothly, it seemed to take forever to get across the city but most of the traffic seemed to be heading in the other direction. The com in the taxi reported that it has been the Archives that had been hit but who by was unknown.

Finally, they pulled up to her destination and she retrieved her crates and hover board. She gave the driver some credits before entering the street, pushing her cargo before her. The market area was busy but she wasn't interested in the stalls. The hubbub and stench of food from the stalls was overpowering and she fought the urge to hold her breath against it. She waited for the driver to leave before pushing her crates into the side street by the road.

Alhana passed under a grim covered archway and banged on a metal door that was the entrance to Hugo's establishment. The rust covered door was anything but welcoming and the word 'dive' sprung to mind as she waited. A slit opened and a pair of dark eyes looked her up and down. What was with humans and giving her the once over? "Can I help you?" a voice growled.

"Hugo's delivery," she barked back

"Alhana?"

She nodded. There was the deep clang of a bar sliding back, the door opened a fraction and she was waved in. Inside the establishment was dark; everything looked green for a moment as she stepped inside. She blinked and her eyes adjusted. "You've grown."

"Hugo," Alhana said with a smile that was genuine. He shut the door behind them before he wrapped her in a great hug. She patted him awkwardly on the back and he stepped backwards with a grin. He'd certainly grown as well, the last time she had seen him, he had been a slender man. Not anymore. He now had a rather impressive paunch and a red face to go with it.

"Tell me everything," he said inviting her to sit on a stool.

"Let's get business done first."

Hugo nodded, "Aye , good girl. Show me the goods."

"Right there," she replied indicating the crate. Hugo strode over and opened it up.

"Brandy?" he said. His top lip curled up as he spoke. She knew Vulcan Brandy was a pathetic attempt on that races part of brewing alcohol. It was weak, lacked body and had barely a bunch to it at all. It fetched a much lower price than the coveted Romulan ale, partly because it was weak and partly because it was actually legal.

"Underneath that," she said. She watched as he stacked the brandy onto the bar and fumbled with the hidden panel when she looked at it now, it seemed painfully obvious it was there, how the guards had missed it, she would never know! He found the catch within seconds and his eyes brightened as it lifted to reveal what was concealed.

"Perfect!"

"It was the only way we could get it in through the dock. Times are hard but not hard enough for me to want to spend time in a Federation cell." She said with a shrug. Hugo nodded.

"You'll want paying then." She nodded. Hugo went behind the bar and pulled out a bulging sack. He slid it to Alhana, "This should cover it." She opened the sack and looked at the contents. They weren't bright, certainly not shining but they were Credits and that was what they needed.

"Let me tell the crew everything's fine." She said. Hugo nodded. Alhana tapped her watch, the muffled voice of Tig came through, "We're good." She said.

"Good Captain," The harsh voice of her second in command was good to hear.

"I'll be in touch; I'm going to catch up with my uncle while I'm here, Alhana out." She turned her attention back to Hugo, who sat opposite her with a smile.

"Now will you tell me everything? How's you mother?"

"I don't know. I've not been home for years."

"Why not?" he asked. He poured her a large glass of some white fizzing liquid, the likes of which she'd not seen for a long time. He passed it to her before opening a bottle of beer for himself.

"Gorchek and I disagreed with some of my decisions. I wanted to fix things; he wanted me to join the defence force. This was six years ago, we haven't spoken since." She replied.

"I see. Your father was always insistent."

"Good job I got my mother's stubborn side," she replied

"Not to mention her looks."

"For what good that did me," Alhana said with a laugh. She ran a hand over her smooth forehead and shrugged. She took a swig of the lemon flavoured fizz and giggled. "Lemonade? I haven't had lemonade since-"

"Since you were last here as a child. You used to love this stuff." Hugo said. There was a warm smile on his face and she couldn't help return it.

"I'm surprised there's no icecream!"

"I have some out back if you want…" Hugo laughed. She shook her head and waved her hand as she stifled a laugh of her own.

"Where's Marsha?" Alhana said looking around. "Aunt Marsha?"

"She ran off with Joe about five years ago," Hugo said.

"Sorry to hear that.

"It's no bad thing, it wasn't great towards the end and looking back I should have seen it coming. They drop by now and again, no hard feelings."

Alhana shook her head but kept her mouth shut. How someone could put up with the slight to his honour was beyond her. If she'd been in Hugo's place, she'd have pulled the other man's guts out. The door opened and a couple of young lads walked in. Neither of them looked particularly savoury but she'd seen far worse than the likes of them. They sauntered up to the bar; Hugo already had their drinks poured by the time they arrived. He fumbled under the bar and moments later a news screen lit up. "Have you heard about this Hu?" one of the lads said indicating the screen.

All of them turned to look at the now flickering screen; it was a report about the explosion. The woman was prattling on about survivors and how many had been killed in the blast. The image of a Star Fleet officer appeared. He looked unremarkable in Alhana's except for an intense gaze and a serious demeanour. The news reader advised everyone that a manhunt was underway to find the wayward officer but not to approach him if he was seen. "I saw that explosion," Alhana said turning back to her lemonade.

"Yeah?"

"It was big, caused a lot of smoke."

"I bet," Hugo said. Her watch buzzed. She sighed and raised it to her face.

"Not now," she growled.

Kang barked back at her, completely ignoring her warning, "We've got co-ordinates for a pick up and it might be interesting. You're near the job." He spoke in gruff Klingon. The two bar patrons looked at her with wide eyes.

"Send me the link, Out." She replied in the same language. She looked across at the young lads, they returned to their drinks hurriedly. "I think that's my cue." She said draining the last of her lemonade.

"Don't feel like you have to rush," Hugo said, "It's been far too long since I saw you."

"I shouldn't stay much longer," she said indicating the two men. Hugo nodded. Her watch buzzed and she checked the pick up location. Alhana rolled her eyes, trust Kang to find a location the other side of the planet and call it 'near'.

"If I ever need anything off world I'll be in touch again," he said when she looked up.

"It was real good to see you again," she said. He gave her another one of those large embraces and she patted his back again. Her overly sensitive nose caught his scent and she grimaced. As soon as he released her, she bade her farewell and left without another word – she had a shuttle to catch.


	2. Chapter 2

The shuttle had been crowded and uncomfortable. The stuffy stench of human sweat had done little to improve Alhana's mood and she was nothing but glad to be off the small craft. Never had the air smelled or tasted so sweet as when she stepped out into the cool breeze once more. The sun was setting between the red pillars of the bridge that spanned the bay. The Golden something or other they called it. It was a nice sight, a marvel of ancient engineering to be sure but she had more important things on her mind than the scenery. Like finding the man with the job Kang had arranged for one. As soon as that was arranged, she was keen to get off this planet and back into space where she belonged. According to the maps she'd looked at on route, it wasn't far from the Star Fleet headquarters – a ten minute walk.

The streets surrounding the shuttle bay were crowded with people. The sound of their movement was almost deafening, not to mention the smell of all those bodies! Commuters dodged here and there, Fleet personnel littered the street, even the odd group of tourists lingered trying to capture that perfect picture. Alhana manoeuvred around them all, keeping her head down and focusing on getting to her destination. It should be somewhere along the right, if her maps were correct that was. It would be just like Kang to send her some out of date rubbish from a hundred years ago. Not looking up, she turned down a side street, which was distinctly less crowded than the main through fare. If she followed this, she should end up in the right place… She didn't pause to glance up, just turned down a small alley and walked smack into a brick wall. Except this wall went 'oof' when she hit it. She looked up.

"You're not a wall!" she said when she finally looked up.

The man before her gave her an odd look, "No." his tone puzzled. "Perhaps you should look where you're going."

She took a step back and nodded, "Think I made a wrong turn." Alhana made to move back the way she came before glancing up once more, catching a glimpse of the stranger's face, "Do I know you?" she said. There was something oddly familiar about him but she couldn't place it.

"We've never met," he said. There was no arguing with that statement or the authority in his voice either.

Alhana paused a moment; then it hit her, "You're the guy from the news!" she said as she finally placed where she had seen him before. "The one that blew up the Archives," she added.

"Now, wouldn't it have been better if you didn't say that?" he said. Alhana frowned, not following what he meant.

"I don-" He moved fast, too fast for her to react. She thought she heard him mutter something or other before a sharp blow turned the world black and she knew no more.

A dull bouncing noise was the first clue Alhana had as to where she was. It wasn't cold or particularly noisy, she couldn't feel any wind and beneath her was soft, rather than the expected concrete, so she had to be indoors. The noise was regular; soothing like hearing a heart beat on a monitor, and she let out a breath that she'd been holding. She didn't open her eyes, she was probably being watched. Keeping her breathing even, she thought back to the last thing she remembered. Her head! She'd been hit on the head and knocked out by that weirdo in the alleyway. Damn it. That meant that monitor like noise actually was a monitor and it was her pulse that she could hear. That meant that she was in a med room somewhere. Crap. By this time they'd have figured out she wasn't strictly human, or a member of Star Fleet for that matter. As far as she knew, getting caught in one of their uniforms was an offense. They wouldn't know who she was at all, why would they? They'd assume the uniform was stolen and deal with her when she awoke.

She opened her eyes a fraction and glanced around through the slits. White room – so it was a med bay, "You can open your eyes young lady," the gruff tone of a member of the med staff said.

"Where am I?" she asked when she realised that there was no point in bluffing. Her voice sounded thick and her mouth was drier than Praxis.

"Star Fleet Medical Bay, London, but I'm pretty sure you already knew that." Alhana opened her eyes and tried to sit up, "Steady, you've taken a nasty blow to the head," he said. She moved her arm and went to push herself up but a clang and a jerk on her wrist stopped her. She was cuffed to the bed. She looked across at the doctor with a raised eyebrow.

"Is this necessary?"

"It is." She let her head sink back into the pillow. She heard the doctor move away. Moments later, footsteps returned to the room, it sounded like a whole platoon of officers the way it echoed in her head. They were louder than her crew after several rounds of Bloodwine. There were three of them. The doctor went to place a hypospray on her arm and administer her with some drug or another but she jerked away.

"It probably won't work anyway," she said. He shrugged and he put the devise aside.

"Who are you?" said one of the officers.

"I could ask the same of you," she replied with a raised brow. She would have folded her arms over her chest but the bound hand made that a little difficult.

"Acting Chief of Security Johnson," he said.

"Alhana De Torres."

"Why are you working for the Klingons?"

Alhana narrowed her eyes, "I'm not working for the Klingons."

"Then how do you explain this?" he said holding up her watch. Even as Johnson held it up, she could hear Kang's garbled voice through it. He was demanding to speak with her. She rolled her eyes, one day he'd learn. Maybe it was her who had to learn not to place him in front of the communication console while she was off-ship.

"I'm an independent agent dealing with the transportation of cargo for various employers," she said. He looked as though he was considering her words for a moment

"Which employers?"

"Several different, reputable, ones," she replied without offering any further information

"If they were so reputable, why were you dressed in a Star Fleet uniform then?" he said, "If you're an honest, independent agent why the need for subterfuge?"

She laid her free hand over her eyes and sighed. A sharp pain flashed in front of her eyes and the world began to swim all over again. The doctor began hovering over her with a small hand scanning device.

"Make this quick Johnson, we have her under lockdown so you can resume later," he said.

"Makes getting onto shuttles easier," she said, letting her voice fall. Was it her or was she slurring her words? Johnson snorted but heeded the doctor's wishes.

"We'll continue this later," he said before he and his silent colleague stomped away.

"Thanks doc," she said.

"I don't need your thanks, your blood pressure is falling and I don't want to do the paperwork if you happen to die." He placed something cold against her arm which was followed by a small hush. "Now sleep so I don't have to talk to you."

Alhana tried to keep her eyes from falling closed but couldn't fight it off. Sleep took her.

The next time she awoke, she wasn't alone. Her head was no longer pounding though and she felt a lot clearer. Although there was still noise, it no longer sounded as though it was trying to destroy her brain from the inside. Guards surrounded the room and for a moment she flattered herself they were there for her. She pulled herself up and stretched as best she could; her arm was still attached to the side of the bed. There was no doctor in the room, just the occupant of the other bed and the host of guards. The dull beeping of the machinery faded into the background as she looked over at the person in the bed beside her.

He was cuffed to the bed too and out cold by the look of it. Black hair framed a narrow face that she knew at once; it was the one who had knocked her out. The guy who'd arranged the bomb in London. Good thing he was unconscious, Alhana had half a mind to wake him just to send him back there herself. "Hey!" she said. One of the guards turned around. "What's this idiot doing in here with me?"

"Don't take that tone with me Klingon, we know you're in league with _him_ ," he said before turning his back on her once more. In league? Biggest pile of crap she'd heard in a while. Still, she kept her mouth shut and let that sink in. Why would they even think that? Come to think of it, how long had she been out for? She turned her attention to the link that held her in place. She rattled it and yanked it against the side of the bed. It didn't give; didn't even budge. It was fairly tight against her wrist but there was enough room for her to move and the circulation was by no means cut off. Maybe if she tucked her thumb in to her palm and forced it…

"You'll dislocate your thumb if you keep doing that," the man next to her said. His voice was low and as she glanced round she noticed the guards hadn't heard anything. She settled herself into the bed, turning so her back was to the guards.

"Any better suggestions?" she hissed.

"Even if you get out of that cuff, how will you escape here?"

"What th- I don't need to tell you that. It's not like I'm going to take you with me anyway," she managed to hiss as she continued wiggling her wrist

"No," he said.

"I've half a mind to put you back to sleep when I've freed myself," she retorted, keeping her teeth clenched as she spoke.

"I think that's what's going to happen anyway."

"What?"

"Haven't you been watching the screens lately?" he said. She could almost hear his eyes roll when he spoke.

"I've been in here since you hit me on the head. I don't know how long ago that was."

"That should've killed you," he said drily.

"I feel better already." She replied, chuckling at his tone. She lined her hand up and pushed against the cuff. She bit down on her tongue as the pressure on her thumb increased.

"Why are you here?"

"They don't know why I'm here. They think I'm working for the Empire. With you actually."

He pulled a face, "Are you? Working for the Empire that is."

"Hell no. I got better things to do than work for those morons." She said. She screwed her face up as the pressure increased further.

"Don't scream now, you'll bring them all in here," he said. She inhaled a short breath as the pressure on her thumb gave. She held her breath as red dancing in front of her eyes calmed down. She shook her wrist and rubbed at the thumb, trying to alleviate some of the discomfort.

"Fuck," she whispered as a breath forced out of her. She sat up, ignoring the fire coming from her left hand.

"So what now?"

"I might call the guards and tell them your awake and irritating the hell out of me," she said.

"They'd just stick that cuff back on and all that pain would be for nothing."

"You're not helping." Despite the situation, and the fact that he had knocked her out, she was beginning to warm to this stranger.

"Do you want my help?"

Alhana ran her hand along the soft mattress and sighed, what choice did she have? "What can you do?"

"Do you have a way out of this building?" he asked. His voice was softer than it was before.

"If I can contact my ship, I can get off world."

"How do you propose to do that?"

"My com-link is in the building somewhere. They took it, and all my credits, from me and then asked me questions when one of my crew started sprouting Klingon down it." She replied. "If I can get that, we can get out of here."

"Alright." She could hear the nod in his voice. "Can you fight?"

"Really? You're really asking me that?"

"Right, Klingon."

"So what can you do? You're still tied to the bed and unless you plan to take it with you and use it as a shield..." She said looking across at where he lay. She glanced at his wrist; he was free!

"Are you ready?" he said. His eyes flickered open and he turned his narrow face to her. His eyes were an odd mix of green, grey and blue, they narrowed into angry slits. Alhana nodded. Together they rose and crept towards their captors.


	3. Chapter 3

The man next to her sprang up noiselessly and Alhana followed suit. She wasn't about to shy away from the opportunity to dish out a pounding, especially to those that had trapped her here. She wasn't as stealthy as him but they weren't noticed by any of the eight guards. A quick glance at her companion told her it was time. She drew back her fist and brought it down on the nape of the first man's neck. Waves of pain erupted through her hand from her thumb but he stumbled forward with a surprised 'oof' but she had no time to think about him. She turned to the next guard who was groping at his side for a weapon. With a swift kick, she knocked his hand away before barrelling into him. She grabbed for his phaser before the man could react. Hurling it at the other guard, who was now aware of her, as a distraction, she placed a swift boot to the head of the second guard, dropping him to the ground.

The fourth had drawn his weapon and aimed it at Alhana. She smiled back at him, flashing white teeth, "Stop right where you are," he said. The sound of a scuffle behind her was reassuring at least! Alhana started to raise her hands, "Slow," the guard barked. She ducked and dove for his legs, hoping that he'd be distracted enough to forget the weapon in his hand. The weight falling on her told her he had. He started struggling the moment he hit the ground however and she received a few kicks for her effort. She didn't let go of his ankle despite the pounding she was now getting. The side of his boot caught her thumb; a scream escaped her. She hoped it sounded like a rage scream but suspected otherwise. It became less about the fight and more about keeping him immobile. The electric sound of a phaser going off made her tense but there was no time to look around she could only hope her companion was alright. She dug her fingernails into the fleshy part of the guard's calf. He let out a shriek that told her how he felt about it. He began to roll but she clung on. Another buzz and the guard went limp.

"Someone will have heard that." Her companion said throwing her a phaser. She caught it with ease and got to her feet.

Alhana glanced around and saw the eight guards were now lying in various positions in the corridor. She nodded as she rose to her feet, "Any idea where they keep possessions around here?"

"This way," he said. Alhana fell in step alongside him as they hurried along the corridor. "I believe they keep personal possessions of captives in the basement." They paused at a corner before turning towards the lift. There was no sign of anyone else in the corridor, maybe they'd been kept in isolation but then, why keep them together? "Quick," he said. The lift door opened and they stepped in.

"Basement," Alhana said. The lift began to move at a painstakingly slow speed and some of the worst music she had ever heard played softly over the intercom. It was the perfect moment to size up her newest companion and she was powerless to resist doing so, if things went wrong and they ended up on opposite sides again, she had to know what she was up against. He was tall, yet not the tallest human she had ever encountered. Dark hair graced the top of his narrow face in an unruly manner. Intense hate filled eyes peered right back at her and he had cheekbones so sharp she was sure she'd be able to use them to cut people. She glanced down; svelte would be a word to describe the rest of his body! He filled out the black clothing they'd dressed him in rather well.

"Well?"

"What?"  
"Do I pass the physical exam?"

"You were doing the exact same thing." She said with a shrug. He moved his hands in a dismissive gesture. "Don't try to deny it!" She added when he opened his mouth to speak "Were you trying to find the bits of Klingon?"

"What?" he said.

"The Klingon parts of me are on the inside, mostly."

"I see."

The lift hissed as it slowed, almost there. "Alhana," she said, giving him a name finally.

"Khan." The door opened and they dashed through. Khan led the way; she hoped he knew where he was going. It could be a trap for all she knew. He slowed to a walk and she followed suit. "We're in dress that would normally be found here. Don't do anything to attract attention," he said.

"Do you know where we're going?" she said. He cut her off with a sharp gesture. Three medical personnel walked past, deep in conversation, they didn't seem to notice them. Alhana took a breath and they continued to walk the corridor as though that was where they belonged. Khan gestured for her to stop. She frowned until he pointed to a console imbedded into the wall. He tapped into it while she kept her eye on the corridor.

"Do what you're doing quick," she hissed, "Someone's coming."

"Keep them busy," he said not taking his eyes from the console. She glanced down at the phaser in her hand and grinned. That was something she could do! Pressing herself against the wall, she waited until they'd turned the corner; it was a couple of guards dressed in neat red shirts. She aimed the phaser, squeezed the trigger and they ceased to be a problem. An alarm began to squeal – steady, loud and definitely going to make life difficult. "Let's go," Khan said looking up from the console.

This time, they ran down the corridor. People wearing all sorts of colours came filtering out of doors, blue and white predominantly but the odd red was there. "Hey!" shouted a voice as they hurtled passed. They ducked around a corner and kept pelting forwards. There was more red in the corridor now; not good. Khan pulled his phaser from his belt and downed one as they zipped by. Alhana hopped over the body lightly, managing to keep pace. Her lungs worked like bellows, sucking the air down in deep gasps as she pushed forward. She had considered herself relatively fit but it was hard keeping up with this human at her side. Perhaps she should spend some more time working out than she had been. They had to be near the right place soon, surely? The seconds passed, the corridor flitted by, looking the same no matter where they turned.

"In here," Khan said. Alhana flew into the door, her companion followed, slamming it behind them. Alhana looked around as her breathing returned to normal. It looked like an ordinary storage room; there were lockers on the side of three walls, a desk in the middle with a solitary computer and a wide eyed young ensign sitting behind it looking like hell had just walked through the door, perhaps it had!

"You're not supposed to be in here," he said as he started to rise.

"Stay right where you are," Alhana said drawing her phaser. "Guard the door!" she instructed her companion. Khan nodded.

"What do you want?" The ensign asked. The fear obvious as his voice shook.

"Hands where I can see them first." He did as he was told. "A few days ago one of your guard types will have brought you my things. It would have looked like a watch to you and it would have been speaking Klingon. There were also a lot of credits in a cloth bag."

"I know the watch."

"I want it back, now!" she said.

"It's in the locker over there," he said pointing to his left.

"Oh no, you're going to get it for me. There could be explosives in there for all I know." The boy swallowed and got to his feet slowly. Alhana kept the phaser pointed at him as he moved, "Quickly." He sped up, tripping over his feet as he rushed to the locker. He jabbed in a code. It flashed a red light. He tried again. Same result. He turned to her with a pale grin, a bead of sweat ran down his forehead and she could see him swallow.

"Get a move on," Khan said from the door. The pounding sound of feet came from the corridor.

"You heard!" Alhana snapped.

The boy tried again, this time, a green light flashed and the door swung open. He let out a loud breath before he reached in and pulled out Alhana's com device. It was silent. He passed it to Alhana. Snatching it from his hand, she locked it around her wrist and shook it. "The Credits?" she asked. The boy shook his head. The watch chose that moment to begin flashing. The boy scampered back and crouched behind his desk.

"Now for your part of the bargain," Khan said as she trotted to the door. Looking down the corridor, she could see a wall of red making its way to their current location.

"It's just rebooting. Usually takes a minute," she said.

"We don't have a minute."

She shook her head, "I can't make it go faster."

"Get ready with that phaser then."

The wall was fast approaching. Alhana crouched down so that she wouldn't be in Khan's way. They'd both need to shoot for this to work. No sooner than she'd got there, he started firing. She joined him. Making sure she picked a target first before blasting them with the energy weapon. A couple tumbled to the floor but they kept coming. Come on, come on. Alhana picked another target and another collapsed to the ground. The guards got the message. They ducked behind doors to avoid further phaser blasts. Her watch beeped and an angry voice kicked in.

"Two to beam," she barked in Klingon cutting off the voice.

"Get to the ground floor, there is a disrupter field blocking your signal." It was Tig. She nodded. How they were meant to do that was another thing.

"We need to go."

"I heard." He said as he fired down the corridor. "Keep firing." She did so, trying to aim at the guards nearest to her. Khan moved back into the room as she fired some more shots. She caught one in the arm and he fell into the corridor. A wave of blasts forced her to duck behind the door. She fired blindly into the hall, hoping to hit something. Khan returned dragging the boy along behind him. "Get ready." Alhana did so. She was so close she could smell the fear on the boy and the light tang of sweat on her companion. He jabbed the boy.

"Stop! Stop firing."

The phasers stopped.

"Please don't shoot me," he cried as Khan forced him into the corridor. Both he and Alhana stepped behind him. They dragged him backwards, away from the guards and towards the turbo lift.

"Don't shoot, I will kill him." Khan said. The way the guards reacted told Alhana that he meant it. They held their phasers ready but not one of them attempted to fire. The walk back to the turbo lift was the slowest she'd ever made. Blood pounded in her ears with every step they took. When the lift hissed open, Alhana let out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding. Once they were safely inside, Khan knocked the lad on the head and pushed him forward. The lift shut just as his feet hit the ground.

"Ground level." Alhana barked. She took a deep breath, filling herself with cool soothing air. Exhaling slowly, she straightened and stretched her arms. The pain in her thumb made itself known once more but she ignored it. Her companion looked as though he hadn't broken a sweat.

"Report!" her watch chirped.

"We're nearly there Tig," she replied.

"Good."

The lift ground to a halt and the doors hissed open. Alhana snarled as they were greeted by more red shirted guards. They all had their phasers pointing at them, the lift was surrounded; there was nowhere to hide. Johnson stepped out from the side, a smirk playing at the corners of his mouth.

"I knew you two were connected," he said. Khan and Alhana exchanged glances. "Now, are you going to come quietly?" he asked as he raised an eyebrow. Alhana nudged Khan with her foot as she raised both her hands. He frowned but did as she did.

"You first!" he said pointing at her companion. Khan stepped forward slowly out of the lift, his gait awkward, poised to spring if the worst should happen. Alhana followed, trying to keep close to him. The guards grabbed hold of her companion, forcing his hands behind his back. There was no grimace on his face despite how much it must have hurt; they were by no means gentle in their actions. She brought her watch to her face, "NOW!" she shouted. The faint hissing of a transporter started and a red glow began to engulf her; only her. Shit! She lunged forward and grabbed hold of Khan's wrist. The red swamped him. The last thing she heard was the frustrated shouts of the nearby guards and the sound of a phaser discharging. Then she was back where she belonged, surrounded by people she was sure that she could trust.

She strode from the pad and grabbed a distruptor. She altered the setting, turned on her still disorientated companion and shot him. He groaned and fell forwards. He looked up at her with those hate filled eyes. She shot him again. Alhana turned to Tig, who had joined them from the bridge, "Take him to the brig." She said before leaving the room.


	4. Chapter 4

The Old Warbird was exactly that; old. She was a D-12 Class Klingon warship that had seen better days, much better days when Alhana thought about it. There were bits falling off where they shouldn't be and more than a bit of patchwork had taken place over the past few years. The ship was never going to outsprint the new vessels the Federation were churning out but she still had a reliable cloaking device and was capable of steady travel. She'd not let Alhana down yet and she doubted that she would start doing so now. Except she needed a replacement plasma coil and the Credits for that job had just been confiscated by the Federation. Not the best outcome of the mission, she knew the crew would be angry but there wasn't much that could be done about that now. Then there was that odd human she'd picked up who was now in the brig. What on Qo'nos was she going to do about him?

She stepped out of her shower and wrapped a towel around her curly reddish hair. It felt good to be out of the awful clothes Star Fleet had put her in. Good to get the stench of Earth from her skin and its fog from her pores Good to get into her own gear and be among her own people again. Space was where she belonged. Next time, Kang could make the drop; she didn't care how unfriendly the place was towards Klingons. She'd ordered the ship back to the Romulan territories, there was always work to be done there. Often cheap, violent work but it would make a start in recuperating the losses from the last job. She'd filled her officers in on what had happened and although they weren't exactly pleased about what had happened, they hadn't turned into revenge seeking furies either.

Since their return, she'd had a little bit of time to think about who he was. She had no idea, only a name and what she had seen so far. He had a great ability to fight, which impressed the Klingon aspect of her nature and he was able to think on his feet too. The foremost question on her mind was who was he and what had he done to get himself arrested in the first place? The thought had stayed with her and she knew it was time to find some answers.

Time for a conversation with Khan, time for some answers too. She pulled on some clothing, dropped her towel into the laundry and headed to the brig. The ship wasn't luxurious by any standards but it was better than most in the Defence Force. The corridors were clear and she'd made sure there was enough storage space on the lower decks so the crew could have individual rooms. What they did with that space was up to them. Her own quarters were comfortable enough, though far from spacious. It would make her father angry to see the amount of comfort in them, he would think her soft. Her crew knew better. She stopped by the machine and got two cups of hot coffee. A liking she'd been given by her mother and not one she could shake. A lack of coffee was one of the many things that would send her into a foul mood. She took them to the brig with her, meaning to offer one to her former companion.

The brig had gotten smaller over the years they'd been flying, initially, it had six cells. Now there were two. The other four had been converted into storage spaces, which were used as additional space when they were flying with a full load. Currently, they were empty. All that was in them were bare shelving. The two remaining cells consisted only of a slab which passed for a bed and a toilet. She couldn't remember that last time they'd had to use them but she was sure it was during the time when they had still taken on passengers. It had not gone well. The door to the brig hushed open and she smiled as it shut behind her, sometimes it didn't.

When she got there, Khan was lying in one of the beds in a cell, staring at the ceiling. He looked around at the sound of her footsteps. "I wondered how long it would be before you returned."

"I brought coffee. I don't know if you like it but see it as a sort of peace offering…" she let the words trail off.

"I do drink it," he said. Alhana passed the coffee through the bars and set it on the ground. While he moved to pick it up, she dragged a nearby chair over so she could sit down. He sipped the warm liquid as he sat down on the edge of the bed before looking up at her, "So where did we go wrong, Alhana?" he asked.

"The point where you tried to kill me stands out."

"Ah yes, that," he said with a nod, a small smirk playing about his lips.

"Me knocking you out upon arrival just about puts us at even, though I wasn't trying to kill you so I say I'm still ahead. I think it's time you told me how we ended up in this position," she said.

"I thought that was obvious."

"Why were you in that med room in the first place?" she said with a little sigh.

"I tried to destroy Star Fleet." His answer was a statement and he had the audacity to add a nonchalant shrug too, as if it was a perfectly normal thing to do.

"By yourself?" he nodded, "Are you mad?"

"Maybe a bit. I caused a lot of damage when I flew a star ship into the headquarters." His face was deadly serious as he spoke leading Alhana to believe he was telling the truth.

"They must have done something to really piss you off. The Federation are annoying but not that annoying, they have their uses after all," she said.

"They killed my family." Alhana took a moment to digest this. Although she didn't speak with her own family, she knew they were alive and she could speak to them if she really had to. Had she not just met her uncle again after a number of years?

"I see," she said with a nod. Revenge was a good cause, one that her race understood all too well. "Are you satisfied?" she asked. The last thing she needed was a revenge crazed loon on board hell bent on completing his personal mission using them as tools to do so.

Now it was Khan's turn to pause before answering. She watched his impassive face for any sign of emotion but there was none. He opened his mouth to speak more than once before closing it again.

"The man responsible is dead. Has my hate died? No. I no longer wish to seek out retribution for my people but nor do I want to have dealings with that… organisation."

It was a careful answer and Alhana didn't know how sincere it was. Still, for the moment she was satisfied. "What will you do now?" she asked. Again, he considered the question before answering.

"I think that depends on you," he said. She made a gesture with her hand for him to keep talking. "Why were you in that room?" he asked.

"I was caught wearing a Federation uniform while not being a member of Star Fleet. I'm half Klingon and one of my officers decided trying to contact me was a good idea while I was being questioned by those idiots, thus giving my affiliations away. Or so they thought."

"So what are you then?" he said. He placed the cup on the floor beside him and looked directly at her, his elbows resting on his knees.

"We are an independent trading ship transporting goods with a no questions asked policy," she said. It was a well rehearsed line and a smile tugged at the corners of her mouth as she said it.

"Smugglers?" he said with a frown.

"Come now, don't tell me that you, the only man to ever fly a star ship into the Federation Headquarters and live, is fazed by a little smuggling operation." She said with a laugh, "How did you survive that anyway?"

"Genetic Engineering." Again, he said it as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"I thought that was forbidden on Earth."

"Not in the twentieth century."

"But-"

"Cryogenic suspension."

Alhana nodded. She scratched her head and pushed red curls back from her forehead "I don't know enough of Earth's history to really comment on that."

"I was a… key figure, in the Eugenics Wars. A story for another time perhaps," he said. She nodded, glad that he was at least trying to give her a point of reference, even if she wasn't sure what it meant.

"Perhaps. So I think the last thing I should ask is where do you want to go?"

Khan flicked his eyes to the ground for a moment before looking back up. "I don't know," he said eventually. "I don't have anywhere to go anymore. My home was destroyed many years past and that planet down there is nothing like I remember. I could adapt but I doubt that is an option left for me. I have no wish to spend the rest of my days in a prison, or worse."

"Can I trust you if you stay here?" she asked.

"I won't steal the ship if that's what you're wondering."

"It was." Khan smiled at her admission. It made small crinkle lines at the corners of his eyes and changed the whole aspect of his face, for that brief moment, he looked as though hate hadn't been his motivation for the past six months. It vanished almost as soon as it had appeared. "Come on," she said, picking up her empty cup, "Let's get out of the brig and I'll show you your quarters."

"You mean these aren't my quarters?" he said raising an eyebrow. Alhana laughed.

"Oh come on, I'm only half Klingon. We do allow some comforts here. Do you speak Klingon?" she asked.

"Yes," he replied in the language.

"Good. Most of my crew are Klingon and that's the language used on board." She said as she punched numbers into the panel. The door to the cell hissed open and for a brief moment, she thought he might strike her. He didn't, instead, picked up his cup and left the cell.

"I've not spoken it much but I will pick it up," he said, his language flawless.

"Sounds like you've got most of it. This way," she said. He strode along next to her as she led him to the personal crew quarters. "There are food replicators here so help yourself when you need to. I'll grant you access to our data banks as well should you need them. After a day or so, we'll assign you a job to do. Is there anything you're good at?" she asked.

"Everything," he replied

"Specifics Khan, I can't have you do everything, it'll put the rest of the crew out of a job."

"Engineering."

"OK, why not read up on the Bird then and see what you can do." He nodded. She stopped outside a dusky red door and waited for it to open. It did so, albeit sluggishly. "It's not a new ship," she explained. "This is your space. Do with it as you will. I know it isn't big but it is yours alone. No one else will be able to enter it without your code. The panel to change it is just inside the door," she said.

Khan nodded, "Is there a shower anywhere?"

"Yes, down the corridor and to the right," she said pointing in the direction of the washroom. On hearing this, another smile broke onto his face. She returned it, knowing exactly how it felt to be clean after a mission. "There's clothing in the drawers as well. I don't know if it will fit but it might be more comfortable than those Federation things you're in."

"Captain to the bridge!" The overhead speakers chirped. They were more than a little fuzzy but she knew it was Tig calling her.

"That's me. Make yourself at home Khan and we'll speak some more a bit later, you can come and find me on the bridge when you're ready," she said. He nodded and she turned to make her way to the bride. As she walked through the clean corridors, she couldn't help wonder if this was the biggest mistake she would ever make.


	5. Chapter 5

Alhana took her seat in the main chair on the bridge. The screen showed the passing stars in its usual mesmerising fashion. The helm was manned by Kang; Tig was at the scanners. Both turned as she settled down, "We have a new crew member," she said.

"We're keeping him?" Kang asked as his red eyes narrowed. Kang was a particularly odd looking Klingon. His skin was unusually fair, fairer even than Khan's and his hair was a stark white. How he had survived to adulthood, Alhana didn't know. His albino appearance was viewed very much in the same manner that she was, as something different and therefore inferior. She did know that he had had a rough start to life and that he had been a wreck, physically and emotionally, when he had joined the crew three years previously.

"For now," she said, "He'll prove useful."

"He better," Tig said. She turned to the large Klingon and regarded him with cool eyes for a long moment. The problem with him was that he couldn't stand anything that resembled change very well. He was a fantastic fighter, a brilliant crewman and a loyal friend but introduce new ideas to him and he immediately became defensive. Whether it was something small, like changing something on the food replicator, to new crew additions, the reaction was always the same.

"Are we underway?" she said ignoring his tone and changing the subject, deciding to deal with his misgivings later on.

"Current speed we'll arrive in Xanthe in five days," he said.

"We'll hit the markets and see what we can pick up. We need to make enough to get that plasma coil changed as soon as we can," she said, "Damned Federation confiscated everything I had." She clenched her fist and struck it against the arm of her chair.

"Maybe we can pick up some passengers again," Kang said turning his attention back to his console to make a minor adjustment.

"Because that worked so well the first time round," Tig said. He snorted and tossed curly black hair from his forehead.

"It depends what's there. We'll have plenty of time to consider our options," she said. "Something might come up before then. Keep the channels open. Where is Tavana?" she asked, noting the communications console was empty.

"She's not due for another hour," Tig said, "Nor is Maeill."

Alhana clicked one of the buttons on her chair, "Vrenn; report."

"Running as expected." A crackling voice sounded over the intercom system, telling her the engines at least were working properly. It sounded to her like that would need fixing soon too. The whole ship would fall apart if they didn't get the parts they needed, even then it would be touch and go. Still, the thought of parting with her was too painful to consider. The crew would have nowhere to go and neither would she. She ran her hand over the battered seat and smiled, the repairs would come soon enough, and this was their home after all. Sighing, she tapped a couple of buttons and began reading the reports and signing the diagnostics that only she could.

The crew change came and went with only a slight nod on her part. The communication monitoring was always fascinating and Alhana enjoyed reading every word. It tended to sap all her concentration as she poured over the words. She read the Klingon and English easily, however the Vulcan was more of a challenge. The script had been converted into the more familiar Klingon, yet some of the meaning was still lost. The study of the document took her full attention. "Captain?"

She looked up and saw Tavana. The female Klingon was as pretty as ever and Alhana gave her friend a smile, despite her best efforts, she found herself envious of her cranial ridges once more. They were well formed yet not too prominent and her tanned skin was even and clear. "Yes?" Alhana asked. Tavana flicked her dark brown eyes to the bridge doors. Alhana followed her and nodded as Khan stepped onto the bridge.

"I take it this is the bridge?" he said.

"Of course." Alhana replied. She watched him take a good long look at the central hub of the Warbird and couldn't keep the smile from her face. His expression was impassive, difficult to read but she knew he was unimpressed none the less. "Welcome aboard," she said, burying her amusement, "Tavana, would you mind showing our newest crew-member how your station functions?" she said. Tavana nodded and motioned for Khan to move over. He bent down and began scanning what the other Klingon was doing. He looked altogether more comfortable in the black polo-neck and black pants he now filled, which he did rather well she had to admit. Maybe a bit overboard on the black but whatever made him comfortable.

That satisfied, she resumed puzzling out the Vulcan transmission. From what she could make out, it was a personal transmission regarding a missing family member. She'd just started on the part where he was last seen. The wayward Vulcan, who was an adolescent, had left his parents while on a trip and not returned when they came to leave. He hadn't been seen since. The two parents were now mounting a search to find their missing child. Alhana became even more interested when the Xanthe system's name cropped up. There was no mention of a reward but it could be worth their while to investigate further while in the area.

She looked up from reading the document and tapped into her chair, typing a brief message. Hopefully the transmission she sent would get the attention of his parents and an image would be forthcoming. If not, there was always the small description in what she had already, however it was vague and would make their job more difficult. She refocused on the remaining reports – mostly system reports and meaningless transmissions they'd picked up while orbiting Earth.

Stifling a yawn, Alhana turned off the reports and stretched. Her head fizzed as she looked out the viewing screen for a long moment. The gentle flicking of the passing stars was always something she'd loved watching and she never grew tired of it. The hypnotic, mesmerising, ever changing scene held her attention for a long while. She yawned again. Maybe it was time to retire. The ache in her thumb had deepened and it had been too long since she had lain down in her own private room. "Tig," she said. The big Klingon looked across from his console. "Take the conn."

"Captain."

She arose and he took her place. She glanced at Tavana, she was pointing at the console and Khan was nodding along to what she was saying. Good. She left the bridge for her own quarters. Once there, she removed her clothing and climbed into the bed. Firm and functional, she was asleep before she could think of anything else.

Alhana awoke to the sound of her first officer's irate voice. The warmth of sleep left her as soon as the words Star Fleet reached her ears and a cold sensation settled in her gut as she sat up.

She made it to the bridge in record time; she didn't even remember dressing or doing anything else. Yet, she was there, clothed, ready to hear what had happened, "Report," she said before she even reached the command chair.

"We intercepted a Fleet wide communication; they've launched a man hunt," Tig said rising from the chair. The expression on his face was grim and she knew what he was thinking before he said anything. She took his place and punched up the details. It took a few moments for her to read them and a few more for them to sink in fully. Her eyes widened a little when they did.

"What did you do?" she said under her breath.

"What?" Tig growled, his heavy brows almost met when he frowned that deeply and she snorted.

"Not you. They don't want us as such, by the sound of this; they're interested in recapturing the 'dangerous, manipulative war criminal' we are now harbouring," she said.

"What do you intend to do with him?"

"I want to keep him here but I think it's time I discussed this with everyone." Alhana said. "Call everyone to the bridge."

It took a while for the twelve crew members, Khan included, to assemble and the bridge was certainly crowded with them all there but it was the only real place they could all fit and still maintain control of the vessel. It would be unwise to assemble in the rec room – who would steer? "I'll make this quick," she said when they'd all settled. "Star Fleet are looking for us." A few disgruntled murmurs echoed around the room.

"Why?" Maeill said. The Romulan folded his arms over his narrow chest and shook his head.

"While escaping their clutches I had help from our newest crew member. It would seem that the people at Star Fleet are now rather keen to get him back," she explained. "I've gathered you here to decide what to do. This is a serious matter and you all have a voice in what happens on this ship. Our options are to maroon Khan somewhere and get out of there. Send him back to Star Fleet where who knows what will happen or to keep him on board," she said. "I want to keep him here." Khan gave her a slight nod, some of the others muttered, "I've seen him fight, I know exactly how handy he can be and we are currently down one crew member."

"Why do they want him so bad?" Vrenn, one of the engineers, said.

"They fear me," Khan said. His tone was cool and there was no hint of boasting in his voice at all. Everyone on the bridge turned to face him and she raised a red eye brow, she knew what was coming.

"Why would the Federation fear just a single man?" This time it was Kang who spoke up. The pale skinned, fair haired albino Klingon narrowed his red eyes as he glared at Khan.

"I suspect it has something to do with the star ship I crashed into their base. A star ship I constructed for them to use as a military vessel," he said. His tone betrayed no emotion, no sign of fear or anxiety, only indifference to Kang's threatening mannerism. "I'm not going to tell you the details of why or how, just know that it was for a valid reason." Was that the glimmer of hate showing through? The tightness of his jaw would certainly suggest it. Maybe his hate wasn't burning as low as he'd made it out to be. Good. They could certainly use that!

"What will they do with you if they catch you?" Maglin, a large Klingon in charge of security, asked.

"Return me to cryogenic suspension, kill me perhaps. They should do."

"What do we gain if you stay?" Tig said. He'd folded his arms over his broad chest and set his feet into a defensive stance but his eyes had lost the hardness and she knew which way he would fall.

"Knowledge."

"I'm going to bring this to a close so you can go off and make your minds up. Just remember, where would you be if it wasn't for this ship? Keep that in mind while you think on it," Alhana said. Khan gave her another almost imperceptible nod as the crew dispersed. "I want your answers in less than an hour," she said.

The bridge cleared, leaving Alhana to wonder what the outcome of this vote would be. She certainly hoped it would go the way she wanted it to. She glanced over at where Khan was now standing. He appeared to be looking at one of the consoles, his face impassive. It was rather difficult to read him; he seemed to be a master at hiding what he was thinking. He ran a hand through black hair, pushing it back from his forehead and a small frown creased his brow. Pointing at a particular flashing light, he asked what it was and Tavana informed him. Alhana was pleased with how eager he appeared to be with learning how the ship worked and she allowed herself a small smile. He'd fit right in, if the crew wanted him to stay that was. It was something she'd find out soon enough. Tapping into her console, she brought up some of the missives she had not read and proceeded to pass the time.


	6. Chapter 6

An hour later the matter had been settled. Khan was sat at one of the stations reading through the schematics of the ship. The crew had decided to let him stay on the condition that it was as a member of the crew, rather than as a passenger. This meant that as a new crew member he'd have to work a shift like they did. Khan hadn't seemed to mind much yet expressed that his unfamiliarity with the type of vessel would render that difficult. Now he was learning about the D-12 and all her flaws in order to rectify that. He now appeared to be giving the manual his full and undivided attention. Alhana turned her focus back to some more communications that had filtered through, including an image of T'Kir, the missing Vulcan. To Alhana, he looked like a Vulcan, nothing stood out which was going to make finding him difficult. In her eyes, they all looked similar and this one was devoid of distinguishing features. Still, she'd circulate the image with the crew in the hope someone might spot him. They'd soon find out.

The five day trip to Xanthe was uneventful. Monitoring the Star Fleet channels proved fruitless, providing them no further information about the man hunt that was apparently underway. There was chatter about the fugitives, speculations and conjectures, but nothing to denote they'd been seen since the escape. Alhana had ordered the ship remain cloaked while they travelled and the ploy had worked. They'd arrived in orbit a few hours previously. It was now time to visit the surface of Xanthe and see what the markets had in store for them. Standing in the transporter room was most of the ship's crew. Kang, and Akhil had opted to run the ship while the rest of the crew were on the surface. She gave the nod and the transporter whirred to life.

Xanthe was a wet planet by definition, nearly its entire surface was water and the floating bazaars were something of a wonder. The indigenous, sentient life had soon used up all the space on land and had decided that the only way to expand their realm was to construct vast platforms that hovered over the oceans. Although they were called floating markets, the platforms never touched the water, instead hovered above them safely. This way, the markets were safe from the brutal storms that sometimes swept the planet and safe from the gigantic sea creatures that inhabited the oceans.

The landing party had split into groups of two or three to explore and see what they could find. Khan was with her, it would arouse less suspicion this way she told herself. The day to day people would always look sideways at her when she was with the Klingons. As if she didn't belong with them. Her human appearance has always caused problems with her own people and that had transferred onto the people when she travelled off world. However, as far as she was concerned, she was a Klingon and other people be damned. Still, two humans would cause less of a stir than a big bunch of Klingons with one 'human' and they were supposed to be keeping a low profile.

The platform they'd beamed onto gave them both a spectacular view of the multiple levelled bazaar. Small ships buzzed around the central columns, which gave it the appearance of a large bee hive, busily taking traders to and from stalls. Noise was a constant cacophony, the hawking of wares, the tempting of buyers, the consistent buzz of machines and even the occasional scream could be heard above the hum of activity. A deep breath bombarded Alhana with so many scents and tastes that she staggered under the weight of it. Khan gave her a puzzled look. "Can't you smell it?" she said.

"Of course."

"I wasn't expecting it to be so… strong," she said. Shaking her head to clear it, she took a step forward, expecting Khan to follow behind her. The crunch of his boots told her he was there.

"What are we looking for?" he said as they passed the first line of stalls. Most of them displayed items that could be considered tat, small trinkets worth much less than what they were being sold for. The traders they passed were a plethora of different races, some of which were familiar, some of which they didn't. The languages that were being hurled around added to the noise. Other buyers pressed around them as they walked through, deeper into the centre of the market making the air hot and stifling.

"Anything that we can take elsewhere and sell for a profit!" Alhana called back over her shoulder when a lull in the crowd made it easier to talk, "Look out for anyone wanting to charter a ship, that's usually a good way of making some quick funds. And that Vulcan too," she added. "Towards the centre of this rabble is a group of Klingon and Romulan traders much like us. We'll make our way there and see what they have to say."

"Is that wise?"

"I don't know." She snapped, "I do know that if we don't get my ship fixed soon, we won't have a ship at all. It's the best we can hope for at the moment."

"I see," he said. They passed a few more stalls in silence, the goods looked cheap and misused. Alhana only gave them and the holders a quick glance as she strode by. Khan paused longer than she did, taking more time to inspect the items on the tables.

She walked back, "Have you found something?"

"How do you expect to find anything when you don't look," he said turning to face her.

Alhana broke into a smile, "Don't you know the Klingon saying 'Buy or Die'? I forget that other races do this thing called browsing," she said.

He raised an eyebrow at the statement but there was no hint of mirth when he spoke, "Maybe you should try it," Khan said moving away from the stall.

"Perhaps. I doubt I'd be any good at it though. There are better stalls than this deeper in the market anyway, this is all junk." Alhana said.

The two of them picked their way through the crowds and navigated to the central part of the lower floor. The sunlight was completely blocked this far into the bazaar, the only light was provided by globes fixed to the struts that supported the rest of the levels. The air was hot, close and difficult to breath. The scents of cooking food and refuse has intensified making Alhana cough. Khan showed no sign of it bothering him and for a brief moment, she hated him for it.

This far into the market, the stalls displayed mangled tech and battered parts and as they strode passed, as fast as they had walked before, she glanced from side to side. There was nothing there that they needed so they bypassed the calling sellers and headed straight to the centre. There, waiting for them it seemed, was a large group of Klingons. A couple of hairy, large fanged warrigul growled as they approached but made no move towards them.

"Here's Flathead," one of them shouted. Blood rushed to her cheeks but bit back the retort that rose on her tongue. Clenching her fist, she continued walking forward, not showing any of the anger that was rising quickly in her blood.

"Flathead?" Khan frowned.

"Not now," she hissed. "Kahless," she replied turning to the Klingon who has spoken. He was the leader of this gang and as such, was one of the biggest, meanest bastards she'd known. Boy did he enjoy reminded everyone of that.

"Who's that?" he demanded pointing at Khan.

"Newest crew member," she replied. "Got any work?"

Kahless snorted, "Not that either of you could do." He looked down his heavily ridged nose at her before turning back to the octopus he was eating. "Are you collecting other Flatheads now?"

"Don't lie to me," she said taking a step forward and ignoring his jibe, "You've never failed to give me a job yet, why change that now?"

"Hmpf, maybe I've decided to give it to more capable Klingons, not a half blood like you? Ever think of that?" he said casting a discarded tentacle to the floor. The Warrigul at his feet leapt after it with a disgusting snarl.

"I am as capable now as I was three months ago, what changed?" she said planting her hands on her hips. Khan stood just behind her and she was grateful to have the back up. She couldn't help wonder why Kahless had suddenly turned so hostile.

"You allowed yourself to be captured." He stated. Alhana forced herself to shut her gaping mouth at that. "You should have killed yourself rather than live with the dishonour." Folding her arms over her chest, she let out a snort and shook her head. A couple of his other gang members lingered in the background, doing their best to look menacing. One of them popped his knuckles absently but the threat wasn't lost on her.

"Now you sound like my father," Alhana said with the wave of a hand. "I didn't come here to bandy words with you, I need work. If you have none, we shall depart. Though how you're going to find someone else to transport your _Racht_ and keep it fresh I don't know." Kahless looked up at that moment, his brow narrowed.

"You can still get across the border?"

"Of course I can! There are not many places I can't get to, border or not," she replied. She fought to keep the smile from her face, now was not the time to act nonchalant or friendly.

Kahless exchanged a look with one of his crew. "Get the list." One of his lackeys scampered off, moments later, she was handed a piece of paper with scrawl covering it.

"Pay me first," she said folding the list and putting it in her jacket pocket.

"Now listen here, Flathead. I'll pay you on return. I no longer trust honourless scum that can get themselves captured." he said jabbing a finger at her. She rolled her eyes at his words.

"And I thought Klingon's were an honourable people," Khan said with a shrug, speaking for the first time.

"What did you say, human?" Kahless spat the word human from his mouth as though it tasted foul, "What would you know of us?" he demanded. Alhana tried to catch Khan's eye but he refused to meet her, instead staring straight at Kahless. The bigger Klingon starred right back. Alhana swallowed her throat suddenly dry. Her hands curled into fists and she subtly shifted her weight.

"I know enough to see that you have no intention of paying for the goods on arrival. Any fool can see you're intensions, they're written over you like a pock-marked disease," he said, his eyes narrowed and his fists were clenched at his sides. Kahless arose from his seat and strode forward.

"Do you not know the folly of interfering with Klingons?" he snarled. "Time to teach you a lesson!" Khan didn't flinch as Kahless brought his fist up. He simply sidestepped the blow, caught his wrist and slammed his elbow down onto the extended arm. A most unklingon like sound issued from Kahless' mouth. Khan tripped his opponent in the confusion and planted a swift kick in his midsection. Alhana glanced at the cronies that were waiting on the edges of the circle. They made no move to help their suddenly prone boss, showing how much they cared about him.

"What were you saying?" Khan said.

Kahless rolled on the ground for a moment. The Warrigul reappeared at that moment, a savage snarl spewed from its lips, which curled back showing vicious teeth. The other members of his gang made to move forward. A curt command from Kahless settled the matter. "Alright, alright." The big Klingon said stumbling to his feet. He reached into his belt and pulled out a pouch. He tossed it to Alhana. She opened it and nodded.

"We'll be back with the goods within a month." She said. With a jerk of her head, she left the centre of the market; Khan strode alone beside her, appearing as though nothing had happened at all. Making sure there was a scowl on her face and her back was straight, she did not look back at the gang behind them. She was expecting at least one of them to come after them, maybe even fire disruptors at them but no attack came. They were cowards but they weren't that cowardly.


	7. Chapter 7

As soon as they were away from the centre of the bazaar and in a quieter spot, Alhana turned to Khan. She tried so hard to keep a smile from erupting onto her face but as soon as she caught the gleam in his eye she failed, "That was awesome!" she said.

"I do not like the way he referred to us as 'Flatheads'," Khan said as they walked along, a little closer together in order to hear each other over the noise, "It made me feel inferior."

"A feeling I've had most my life," Alhana said.

"Yet that can't be a true sentiment," Khan said, "You're the captain of a star ship and your crew follow you loyally."

"We're just a bunch of run-aways and misfits trying to find a place in the universe," Alhana said with a wave of her hand, "None of us are really wanted by our own people so we carve our way where we can." Khan was silent for a long moment. She hoped he was contemplating those words as they weaved through the crowd. "It doesn't make us inferior or less worthy, it just makes us different."

"I'm beginning to understand how that feels," he said. His voice was low and she only just heard him over the shouting in the bazaar. "I should have killed him."

"What?" Alhana said freezing in her tracks.

"I should have killed him."

"Why?"

"He recognised you and knew you'd been captured. I'd wager that he knows we are being hunted as well. He could alert Star Fleet," Khan said stopping just a little bit too close to her. Alhana took an involuntary step back before she could stop herself.

"He could do but what would be in it for him?"

"Vengeance."

"If Kahless wants vengeance he'll be up there waiting for us when we return to the ship, he has more firepower that we do and he knows it." Alhana said, "Forget him for now, we'll head to the upper levels and see if there is anything there. Thanks for pounding him though; I've wanted to do that for as long as I can remember. He's a real jerk sometimes." Khan nodded at her before they began the climb to the top floors.

The upper levels of the bazaar were rammed with people. Some selling, most buying, every one of them clamouring for a bargain and hoping to make money one way or another. There were Orions, Cardassians, Romulans and a whole host of other faces, some of which were new to Alhana. The scent of roasting meat reached her and she had to stop herself from drooling. Delightful titbits were being offered for minimal prices and she was sorely tempted to purchase some. She left the morsels where they were however; everything spent here was money not being spent on fixing the Warbird and that had to be her priority, without the ship, there would be no further work. Alhana drifted along through the stalls, her mind wandering away from the task at hand and focusing on other matters – mostly getting the ship fixed, where they would get the parts from and how long it would take to get the job done. Maybe they could get the parts from that Ferengi merchant who could source Klingon parts. She'd not contacted him for a while but she knew he would be able to help if she only asked. She shuddered at the idea, he was a bit of a creep but then again, he was cheap…

Hands seized her waist and pulled her backwards. "We need to turn the other way," Khan whispered in her ear before she could make a noise. She shivered, not altogether fearfully, as his large hands held her securely. All of a sudden, she was aware of the expanse of his chest pressing against her back and his proximity seemed to be doing odd things to the pit of her stomach, "Look." Ahead, at the next junction, was a large poster displaying his face and a group of people were looking straight in their direction. Alhana nodded. She was more aware of his lean form and the strong hands clasping her than any immediate danger and try as she might, she could not dismiss that knowledge. She swallowed hard and he let her go. There was no more time to think about it, they spun on their heels and scarpered off in the direction they'd come, back into the busy market

They reached the edge of the upper platform soon enough, Alhana touched her watch and the familiar warm sensation of the transporter engulfed her. A moment later she stepped off the pad and back into the familiar surroundings of her ship. Khan was beside her but she couldn't think about him at the moment. The place where he'd touched her still tingled with the ghost of memory and she couldn't dismiss it from her mind, no matter how hard she tried. The sensation didn't leave when she flapped her shirt, "Everything OK?" Khan asked. Blood flushed to her face and she gave him an awkward smile.

"Yes. I'm going to take a shower; I can smell the bazaar on me and it stinks!" She said. She left before he had chance to say anything else yet she was sure he had been smirking at her.

By the time she'd showered and changed, the rest of the crew had returned to the ship and she felt a lot calmer. She gathered the leaders of the respective teams and called them together for a meeting on the bridge. "We got nothing," Tig said.

"Nothing here either," Maglin said.

"No," Mindor said

"We heard about that Vulcan," Ranka said, "He jumped on a ship heading to the Toraz system."

"Only thing we turned up was the regular job from Kahless and I don't think he'll be in a hurry to hear from us again." Alhana said unable to keep from smiling.

"Oh?" Tavana said lifting her eyebrow.

"Khan broke his arm in response to an insult made to us both. Apparently he found 'Flathead' as insulting as I did."

"Good." Kang nodded.

"Just don't start throwing chairs at him." Tig laughed. She shot the dark haired Klingon what she hoped was a scathing look. He merely laughed at her and she shook her head.

"What details of we have on the Toraz system?" she said, quickly changing the subject.

"Not much. A single habitable planet, the fourth distant from the star, the locals are friendly but don't go in for exploration much. There is a large city in the northern hemisphere." Tig answered as the information appeared on his screen.

"I think it's worth checking out, we may as well lay in a course, it's the best we've got." Alhana said. The rest of the crew nodded, "Oh, before you all vanish. There were images of Khan posted in that bazaar, he spotted them before me and we managed to make it back here before anything happened. If you happen to see them in your explorations, destroy them."

There was a general murmur of approval before she dismissed them. She remained on the bridge with Kang and Akhil. Both were deep in conversation about the latest weapon developments and how they could modify the ship to accommodate them. Alhana eavesdropped while they spoke, they might have some viable suggestions and their conversation was far better than staring into the screen. There was nothing to read either and it passed the time. If only they could get the plasma coil fixed up, then she could think about upgrading the weapons systems. Still, their conversation was intriguing. "What have you found?" she asked, unable to keep silent anymore.

"There's a new guidance system for photon torpedoes." Kang said.

"We were wondering if we could apply the systems on this ship." Akhil said. There was a wicked smile that crept onto her face as she spoke about her true passion.

"There's no reason why not." Alhana said.

"Really?"

"Coil first but the weapons system on this ship are so old, I know how you speak about it when you think I'm not listening," she said. The two weapons specialists exchanged glances and smirked to one another. "If you're serious about it, get me a report stating all the benefits of the upgrade, what it will cost and I'll look into it a bit more."

"Sounds good captain." Kang said. Akhil nodded along with him before they turned their conversation onto more mundane topics.

"How long will it take to get to Toraz?" she said.

"Two and a half days." Akhil replied after punching some buttons on her console. Alhana nodded and settled back into her seat, might as well get comfortable.

The journey to Toraz was uneventful; whoever thought space travel was an exciting dash between galaxies had never travelled in space. The majority of the time was spent reading dull communications they intercepted and staring at the stars. Some time she devoted to sparring with the crew but that usually left her more battered than she liked. She wasn't as strong as the Klingons but she always tried, usually took a beating for it but hey, if she didn't try she'd never win.

Facing her now was Tig, the large Klingon was bearing down on her fast; she raised a hand to block one blow only for him to feint and pound her midriff with his other. A whosh of air escaped her lung and she coughed, fighting back the tears that flooded to her eyes, she blinked. Growling, she pulled herself together and launched her own fist at Tig's head. She caught his cheek and followed the blow with a kick to the crotch. There was a burst of jeers from the audience as Tig's face coloured. Roaring, he caught her leg on the recoil and pulled. Alhana struck the floor with her shoulder. She winced but rolled away before he could pin her down and thus win the bout. On her feet once more, she dodged several quick blows. Countering with her left fist, she connected with his cranial ridges. Quicker than she was, Tig struck her right temple before she could raise her guard again. White light flickered across her vision and she staggered back. Wet sticky liquid pattered down her cheek as she sank to the floor. Blackness threatened to consume her as she sat stunned on her backside. She shook her head, refusing to give in to the darkness. Her vision cleared and she put her hand to her temple. He'd drawn blood!

"Captain?" Tig's voice drifted down to her and she looked up.

"I'm fine," she said climbing to her feet. She was determined that he wouldn't see her wooziness from the blow, that would only invite further mockery.

"Yeah!" he roared clapping her on the back, "That was an honourable fight." The rest of the watching crew cheered, even Khan gave them both a nod. "You managed to not faint, I need to hit harder next time!" Tig said, there was a huge smile on his face. Alhana touched her freely bleeding wound and laughed.

"I didn't hurt your hand did I?"

Tig looked at his fist and shrugged, "Who's next?" he demanded. Alhana walked to the side of the ring, grabbed a towel and pressed it against her temple. No one was forthcoming in his challenge; most of them had already fought that day, "Fine. If you're all too cowardly to fight, I suggest we drink." More cheers followed as Tig dragged one of the cargo crates with his name on over and prised it open. Inside were several bottles of thick red liquid. Bloodwine.

"How long have you had this Tig?" Alhana asked.

"Too long," he said laughing. He handed her a bottle and she popped the lid with her teeth. She took a long pull of the potent beverage and revelled in the sensation of the thick liquid easing down her throat. It settled with a warm sensation in the hollow of her stomach and she smiled. She spotted Khan with a bottle in his hand and decided he should be warned. He was sitting on one of the crates looking on with bemusement.

"Have you had Bloodwine before?" she asked. He looked at the bottle and shrugged.

"No."

"Its strong stuff, twice as good as Earth Whiskey." She said.

"I'll bear that in mind," he said. There wasn't a trace of emotion in his passive voice. He removed the cap with far more grace than she ever thought possible from a human, albeit an enhanced one, and took a swig. His face was a picture. He swallowed the concoction with visible effort before sticking his tongue out, "Eugh, how do you stomach that?"

"It is an acquired taste," she said unable to quell a laugh, "You get used to it."

"The aftertaste isn't so bad," Khan said after a moment.

"I can get you something else if you'd prefer."

"Thank you Captain, no. I'll stick with this." Khan said forcing himself to take another swig from the bottle. Alhana nodded and patted his knee, finding it strange that he called her by her title, rather than by name.

"Very well," she said before moving to find Akhil. She was standing with Kang and they appeared to be deep in a conversation that ceased as soon as she approached, "I hope I'm not interrupting anything."

"Of course not Captain," Akhil said.

"I came to discuss the weapons report, I'm glad to have caught you both at once."

They both looked at her expectantly. "Can we do it?"

"Yes, I'm impressed with the increase damage it will give us and you're both right in saying that the weapons are woefully inadequate for the types of job we run."

"Great!" Kang roared. He took a long drink from his bottle in celebration. Akhil clapped him on the back and gave a cheer of her own.

"The coil is our first priority though." Alhana said. "Never forget that."

"Is the coil defective?" This time it was Khan who spoke, at some point, he'd wandered over to where they stood.

"Yes. They're well known for a manufacturing flaw, it's why the Defence Force retired these vessels. The cloaking device can interfere with the engine function which renders it useless. Fortunately replacements are available but they are expensive – hence why we're doing anything for money." Alhana explained.

"Can they be repaired?"

"No."

Khan nodded as he digested this. "How close are you to having the money?"

"We still need half of it." She said. She took a drink from the bottle in her hand but she no longer felt like drinking. The reminder that the ship was in a bad shape of repair left a bitter taste in her mouth and she lowered the bottle.

"We'll get there Captain," Akhil said clapping her on the arm. Alhana nodded.

"I just hope it's before we experience critical failure," she said. The hot booze sank into her stomach and she did her best to smile.

"How did she end up in such a condition?" Khan asked. Kang and Akhil exchanged glances before moving away in a hurry.

"What do you mean?" Alhana narrowed her eyes.

"This ship is falling apart." Khan said. "Why would you even buy a ship this old?"

"I didn't buy her."

"If you stole it you made a bad choice in get away vehicle."

"I didn't steal her either."

"Then how di-"

"She was given to me. About six years ago. She was grounded then and that was part of the deal, I could have her so long as I paid for the repairs myself which I did. I got her running; I fell out with my father over it and fled in her." Alhana snapped, "I haven't seen my family since." She said letting the volume of her voice fall once more. "This flying crap pile is my only home now."

Khan stood silently beside her for a moment, "I understand now," he said, "You should reconcile with your father." Alhana gave him a stunned look.

"What?"

"I've just lost all my family. I'll never see those people, whom I held so close, alive anymore. I would give anything to see them again yet there is no possibility of that. Make the most of the people you cherish because you never know when that option won't be there anymore," Khan said. His tone had taken on a softer note and the fact that he was still hurting over it was obvious.

"That's a pretty thing to say Khan and I'm genuinely sorry for those you've lost, people cannot be replaced and yet, during my exile, I have met some brilliant souls. The people here, on this ship, are my family now. I hope, should you decide to stay with us, you'll come to see them in the same way." Alhana placed her bottle of Bloodwine on a nearby crate, she didn't want it anymore. She yawned before she was able to catch herself.

Khan looked as though he was going to say something then. His pale blue grey eyes softened just a fraction. As he opened his mouth, her watch buzzed, "Captain to the bridge."

"On my way," she said. "I'm sorry Khan," she said reaching out and patting his bicep, "I have to go."

"I understand," he said. She gave Khan an apologetic look before dashing off wondering what it could be. The chat with her newest friend had confused her; maybe it was the Bloodwine making them both go soft in the head. It had happened before yet today it left her with a strange unsettling sensation that she couldn't place.


	8. Chapter 8

The bridge was as calm as it ever was and Alhana wondered what she had been called for. "What's the problem?" Tavana pointed at the screen. Right in the centre looming in front of them was a Federation vessel, "Have they seen us?" Tavana nodded.

"They're waiting for you."

"On screen."

The click of a button brought the Captain of the other ship onto the visual. He was handsome, for a human, with sandy hair, blue eyes and a cheeky face. The look of confusion on his face when he saw her made her smile, "Not what you expected Captain?" she said.

"You're not a Klingon."

"And that's rather rude of you to point out my failings. I am half Klingon." She said raising her eyebrow

"My apologies." Alhana nodded an acceptance before he continued. "I am Captain James T Kirk of the Star Ship Enterprise."

"What can we do for you Captain?" she asked. She resisted the urge to fold her arms over her chest, wanting to appear open and non-defensive.

"We're tracking a fugitive from Earth, we have reason to believe he has travelled to this part of the galaxy on a Klingon Warship. Naturally we saw you and-"

"And you assumed this person would be on board," Alhana said finishing the sentence for him. This was not what she needed after half a bottle of Bloodwine, her head began to spin a little and she sank into the chair with a smile painted onto her face, "Why don't you tell me about this fugitive and I'll see what I can do."

"He's dangerous; he'd look like an average human to you. I'll get a file over that would be easiest." Kirk said. Alhana nodded.

"Very well. If anything comes up I'll be in touch," she said before terminating the communication channel.

"We're receiving a transmission Captain." Tavana said.

"Patch it through here." Tavana did so leaving Alhana to read through the notes the Enterprise had sent her. It was interesting and left her with a few questions of her own. She thought about hailing Kirk again but decided to go straight to the source with her questions instead. Alhana left the bridge and made her way to the crew quarters. She tapped on Khan's door, found it was unlocked and let herself in. The lights were on. Khan was sprawled face down on the bed, topless with the now consumed bottle of Bloodwine still in his hand.

"Captain!" he said, rather too loudly as he rolled onto his back.

"Jeez Khan." She hissed unable to take her eyes from his lack of shirt. The only word that sprang to mind was chiselled. She dared not look below his waist lest her strength fail her. "Cover yourself up and we'll talk." She removed the bottle from his hand, placed it on a nearby shelf and turned away from him while he pulled a shirt over his head. She could still smell his scent though and it did strange things to her insides. He was all strength and virility, the tang of his sweat made her stomach do a back flip. When he looked up, she dismissed the sensation from her thoughts, making sure she kept a level, impassive face.

When she dropped her eyes again, she was almost sad to see him back in his black polo neck – almost. He'd propped himself up with his pillow and remained lounging in complete comfort. "What's the problem?"

"Do you know a James T. Kirk?" Alhana said sitting herself on the end of the bed. She sat with her legs crossed so she could face him.

"He is an impertinent young ship's captain. It was his first officer who was responsible for putting me in that room next to you. He also killed my people." Khan said.

"So you'd be most upset to learn that they're a few kilometres away from us and he has been asking after you." Alhana said. That got his attention. His spine stiffened and she could see the muscles in his jaw clench.

"What do they want?"

"You."

"What did they tell you?" All effects of the Bloodwine had now vanished and his blue grey eyes hardened.

"Is there anything you haven't said that I could learn from him that would upset me or compromise your role on this ship?" she said, matching his words with her own steel.

"Nothing I've not said before."

"So the murder of a Fleet Admiral didn't give you pause for thought?" she said.

"Are you going to turn me over?" Khan asked. The old sarcasm was creeping back into his voice, the muscles in his arms were tense, his eyes narrow.

"Of course not." Alhana said, "If I send you over its pretty damned obvious who it was you escaped with," she watched as he relaxed in front of her. His fists unclenched and he let out a breath. It was like watching a spring uncoil.

"So what are you going to do?"

"Lie," she said with a shrug. "I'll send them back in the direction we've come from, cloak us while we move on and hope we never see them again." Khan pondered her words for a while before nodding. "You should also know I don't give up members of my crew just because someone bigger demands it," she said.

"A sentiment that I appreciate. Do you want to help me finish the wine?" he said. He settled back onto the pillow once more and stretched his long arms forwards almost as though he was reaching for her.

"No Khan, I have work that needs to be done and it's best I stay sober for it." Alhana said, "Maybe another time." The glimmer of a smile ghosted his mouth and she turned to leave. When the door shut behind her, she released a breath that she hadn't realised she'd been holding. Getting the image of him lying there topless out her head was going to be an endless struggle… It wasn't like he was that distinguished looking either, his face was altogether too narrow and his eyes too cold. And his mouth was a funny shape. Besides, he had no cranial ridges to speak of; he was strong though and that went a little way of making up for his shortcomings. The rational part of her mind told her that it was a bad idea to even consider him in this light. He was human, albeit a modified one and there was no way she would ever do anything with a human. Ever. All the while, the irrational side of her mind flicked the image of him lying half naked on the bed. All these thoughts churned through her head as she made her way back to the bridge. Even as she entered, her head was still adrift.

"Tavana, open a link between us and the Enterprise," she demanded, determined to get the thoughts from her head.

"Aye Captain."

A moment later, the bright young face of Captain Kirk filled the screen, "Greetings Captain," he said with a smile.

"I know where your fugitive is," she said not wasting a moment before getting to the point.

The look on Kirk's face when he comprehended what she was saying was something Alhana would carry with her forever. It took at least thirty seconds for it to sink in and when it did, she knew she had his undivided attention. The blinking, stunned expression had her laughing on the inside and she gave him a smile.

"My crew and I recently left the Xanthan star system. It was during this visit to the bazaar that he was seen. I believe it was in the northern province no more than five days ago," she said.

"Are you sure? What was he doing there?"

"I don't know. I didn't talk to him. We were there looking for work. He was moving among the crowd with an intention in mind but it was in the opposite direction to us." Alhana said. Kirk turned to a Vulcan in the background who seemed to be looking at a console. He nodded after a moment and Kirk turned back to her.

"Thank you Captain, Just answer something for me?" he said. Alhana swallowed and folded her arms.

"Yes?" she said.

"Why are you helping us?" Alhana was taken aback with the question. She frowned and looked away for a moment. "The Federation and the Defence Force don't have much of a history for cooperation; we didn't expect to hear back from you."

Alhana smiled, "Oh Captain, that's where you're mistaken. The Defence Force don't take half-breeds, albino's or exiles either. We are an independent trading operation transporting goods from place to place." She deliberately left out the part about the no questions asked policy.

"I see," Kirk said leaning back in his chair. Alhana wiped her sweating hands on her knees. "Well, thank you for the information."

"You're welcome."

"I'm sure we'll be in touch," Kirk said. The transmission was terminated and Alhana slumped in her chair.

"As soon as they're gone, get us out of here. Cloaked. I don't want to see that ship for another month at least." She said.

"I hope you know what you're doing," Tavana said as she tapped at the console in front of her.

"So do I," she said. Presently, the Enterprise disappeared from the visualizer and dashed off in the direction she'd pointed them. As soon as she was certain they were gone, Alhana gave the order and they disappeared. The cloaking device made an awful noise as it kicked in but it settled soon enough. "I'm going to take a shower," Alhana said, "Call if anything else happens." Tavana nodded and she left the bridge.

The rest of the trip remained blissfully uneventful. There was no sign of any other ship in the immediate vicinity, so dropping into orbit around Toraz was no problem. Alhana turned the cloaking device off and ordered her crew down to the surface to look for the missing Vulcan or anything else of interest that they could find. She'd opted to remain behind and look into some of the engineering reports that had been mounting. It was dull yet she owed Vrenn and Ranka the attention they deserved. The two engineers indicated they were in need of assistance with keeping the engines going. Small jobs were turning into big problems, all developing from the point when Trag, the third engineer, had left them. Khan had mentioned something about engineering and he'd proven he was a quick study when Tavana had shown him her station and the interim period as well. Maybe it was time to assign him a proper role within the ship; he'd been there for ten days now.

"Alhana?" Tig's voice drifted over the intercom.

"What you got?" she asked.

"No sign of the Vulcan but there's a transport contract that'll be good for us," he said.

"Details?"

"Come down here and find out." The com snapped shut. "Maglin, Emony, watch this ship for the next hour or so. Contact me if anything happens," They nodded and she headed to the transporter room.

The warm buzz of the transport had hardly left her before she strode towards her friend. The planet was warm to the point of being arid; dust swirled around her feet in small eddies, twisting this way and that and the air was stifling to breathe. The hot wind licked at her red curls, pulling them into disarray. Alhana pushed them out of her eyes and joined Tig. He was stood with an ancient human man, whose eyes were hard and cruel. "So, tell me the details," she said foregoing any introduction.

"I need several crates of foodstuffs transporting to Cestus III," he said. His voice was as harsh as the lines etched onto his face.

"Nothing live, nothing that can foul, I don't want to spend the next week cleaning cargo bays." Alhana said.

"It's all sealed, see for yourself," he replied. She walked over to one of the crates and he kicked it open. As far as she could see it was full of regular food rations, she waved Tig over for a look. He growled an agreement before returning to his regular job of looming.

"How much do you have?"

"How much can you carry?"

"I have a D-12 Klingon Bird of Prey with a standard cargo bay," she replied, "Nothing in storage at present."

"I can fill your hold," he said. Alhana nodded, his direct way of speaking made a nice change from the usually floral speech of other races.

"Now it's just a question of price," she said.

"Five Thousand Darsaks." It was a tone not to be argued with. Alhana made herself appear as though she was considering it. Inside, her heart was pounding; it was more than enough to get the ship fixed. "Half now, half on delivery," he said. Alhana continued to look thoughtful before she extended her hand.

"Done," he took it and gave a firm handshake. He handed her a bag filled with the promised amount and she handed it to Tig, who stashed it away quickly.

"I'll send the co-ordinates to your ship," he said as he tapped into a device on his arm. Alhana nodded.

"Tig, time to get going," she said. Her friend grunted and she gave the order. Shimmering light engulfed them and transported them back to the Warbird. Only then did she turn to the large Klingon, "Five Thousand Darsaks!" she said unable to keep the smile from her face any longer. Tig's face erupted with a case of the grins, showing broken teeth.

"It is a good day."

"Call the others back," Alhana said stepping from the transporter. She walked to the bridge with a huge smile on her face; this was turning into a profitable day, the best day for a long time! The moment she claimed the chair on the bridge, her communicator flashed, displaying the exact amount of crates and their location. A few minutes later, her crew was back on board, eager to learn what had happened.

In less than an hour, the crates were aboard, stashed in the cargo bay and the ship was underway. The four day course was laid in; the crew began moving in their regular patterns. The life of the ship beat on as it always did during these flights.

It was during the third day of the voyage that the rhythm was interrupted. The sound of something falling brought Alhana out of her deep sleep. Another loud bang had her up, dressed and in the cargo bay in half a minute. What she found was the last thing she expected. Khan had someone pinned against the side of the bay by the shoulders. His face was contorted as he held the slender form in place.

"What's going on?" she bellowed.

"I found a stowaway in the crates. He planned to kill us and take the ship." He said pushing harder against the figure. A sharp cry died on the lips of the intruder.

"Bring him to the brig," she said. Khan knocked the intruder across the face and it slumped forwards. He easily lifted it over his shoulder and fell in behind Alhana. She led him to the brig, opened a cell and beckoned for Khan to throw the intruder in. He dumped him unceremoniously on the floor and stepped out. It was only when she locked the cell that she noticed that the intruder was the young Vulcan lad who had been reported missing some days before.


	9. Chapter 9

"So tell me again what happened," Alhana said. She ran a hand over her face and let out a sigh as she brushed her hair back. Khan crossed the room with two cups of steaming hot coffee in his hand. Giving them both to her, he dragged another chair over before sitting opposite her. The Brig wasn't the best place to sit and drink coffee but she wanted to be there when the Vulcan awoke.

"Tig asked me to check the cargo bay after he thought he heard a disturbance. I did as he asked like a good minion should," Alhana couldn't ignore the sarcasm as he spoke, "When I got there, I found that climbing out of a hold. I decided to hide behind one of the crates to see if I could learn anything. Nothing was forthcoming so I opted for what I thought would be the Klingon thing to do."

Alhana laughed despite herself, "What made you think he was here to take the ship?"

"He said so himself, during the fight, right before a punched him in the stomach," Alhana turned to look at the prisoner in the Brig, he was still out cold.

"What kind of idiot sneaks on board a Klingon vessel and attempts to take it," she said thinking out loud. "By themselves?"

"There was no way he was going to win, not with me on board as well," Khan said. Alhana nodded ignoring the boasting of her friend.

"How long will he be out for?" she said forcing herself not to yawn. Khan shrugged.

"I hit him fairly hard, it could be a while."

"As soon as I leave this room he'll wake up," she said as she sipped her coffee

"Are you tired?" Khan asked.

"Rather not quite awake yet, I was in deep sleep when the banging woke me up," This time, she didn't bother to stifle the yawn. Khan set his coffee down on the floor and gifted her with a rare warm smile, even his steel blue eyes softened a little. He stood and moved to stand behind her. Cool hands touched her shoulders and applied gentle pressure to the base of her neck. "What're you doing?" she asked with a frown, her shoulders bunching

"Just relax. I'm not going to harm you if that's what you think." Khan's sardonic tone stung.

"Why would I assume that?" she asked as he pressed his fingertips into the points on her neck.

"You have strange ridges on the back of your neck," he said changing the subject.

"Of course I do." She replied. He said no more as he manipulated the points. Alhana felt the lingering sleep leaving her body, it was as though Khan had flicked a switch and she brought her back to life. Warmth flooded through her and the touch of his fingers reminded her of something long thrown aside and dismissed as weakness. When he withdrew his hands she felt the loss keenly. No way was she going to let Khan know that though, she stretched her neck and nodded her appreciation. "Neat trick."

"One learned hundreds of years ago," he said with the wave of a hand. He returned to his chair and resumed drinking his coffee. The silence expanded between them and Alhana wondered whether it would be worth having Tig bring some reports to her so she could check through them. Maybe she could look into prices for a new plasma coil and sources as well while they were waiting.

"How's the work in engineering coming along?" she asked more for something to say than any desire to hear how it was going, if something was going wrong, she'd already know. She'd assigned Khan when they'd left in the hope that he'd be able to assist with the build up of work.

"I didn't think I would enjoy such work and yet, it reminds me of my studies when I was a young lad in India. The tasks are simple enough and it' good getting my hands dirty."

"What was it like?"

"College?"

"No, you're life before you got frozen."

Khan smiled, not warmly, a slight tugging at the side of his mouth made it more of a sneer, "It was a violent time and yet, my fellow augments and I were treated well by those that were loyal to us. Joaquin was my bodyguard, and I ruled over most of Asia. During that time I brought peace to the thousands. It was something a vicious few rejected. My people were forced into exile or murdered for their valiant efforts." Khan said.

"I see."

"Earth's people were not ready for unity. It was their loss. Our plan when we escaped was to create a new world, a superior world on a new location. Now my people are all dead and I am fixing your ship."

"A bit of a change then." Alhana said finishing off her coffee. She could detect the resentment in his tone and she couldn't just leave it be.

"I am not accustomed to taking orders," he said placing his own cup on the floor.

"I don't mind being questioned so long as it is valid. I'm not perfect and my crew knows it. They'd be idiots to not ask questions and I expect the same from you. That said, I don't like being questioned in front of non-crew members, or being made to look stupid either," she said.

"We wouldn't want to look weak in front of the other Klingons would we?"

"That's exactly the point Khan. If we appear weak we will be destroyed, I don't know about you but I rather like living. This ship is old; she can't stand up to the newer vessels in a fight!"

Khan laughed, it was a genuine sound, deep rich peals tumbled from his mouth and Alhana found herself laughing along, "I have to agree," he said.

Slight movement drew Khan's gaze away from her, she followed it and found that their prisoner was stirring. Alhana rose and stretched, "Let's see what we can learn." Khan nodded.

"Vulcan!" she said tapping the bars. He moaned and looked around, the effects of the blow to his head still painfully obvious. There was an ugly swelling forming on the side of his head and his fingertips brushed against the green scab that had formed. "T'Kir!" His reaction to his name told her who he was. He looked around and pulled himself into a sitting position, his expression frustratingly neutral. "What are you doing on my ship?" she demanded. He coughed before turning to face her. He betrayed no emotion, his posture was relaxed, his shoulders at ease.

"I will answer no questions until I have had some water," he said. His voice was tight, husky and dry. Alhana nodded, Khan fetched the required water and handed it to the prisoner without a sound. Seeing the tension in his broad shoulder reassured her that he was ready to do anything that was needed. She gave the prisoner a moment to quench his thirst before speaking again.

"I will show no more mercy until I have answers, why are you here?"

"Tulak sent me to protect the cargo. I was to gain control of the ship and fly it to its destination myself," he said after a moment's pause.

"For what reason?"

"It would be illogical to pay someone else to accomplish this when I was capable of flying this ship myself," he said.

"What possible thought did you have that meant that you would win over a bunch of Klingons? There are twelve of us and one of you!" she snapped. The Vulcan gave them both an impassive look that sent a wave of fury through her stronger than anything she had felt for a long time. How dare he try and take the ship from her? It was hers by right. Her eyes narrowed and she took a step forward. She was about to raise her hand to the impertinent being but a cool hand on her shoulder stopped her. Swallowing most of her ire, she stepped back again with a curt nod.

"I've heard enough," Alhana said. She turned away, Khan followed, they walked into the adjacent room, "Options?"

"We can hardly let him free. If it was me, I would kill him," Khan said folding his arms across his chest. Alhana nodded, digesting what the prisoner had said.

"There might come a time for that, at the moment, his parents are offering a reward for his safe return. More money for the coil and other upgrades that we need," she said with a nod.

"Then post guards at all times. All the Vulcans I have known are crafty."

"Wise move," she said. "Go and inform our prisoner that we are yet to decide his fate. Keep him sweating for a while."

"That I would be more than happy to do." Khan said. The grin on his face was disturbing and she hoped he wouldn't hurt him further. She let him leave first before heading off to find Tig. He'd be anxious to know what had happened and what it might mean for the rest of the crew.


	10. Chapter 10

Sitting aboard the bridge, Alhana watched as the ship was guided into orbit around Cestus III. The planet was under the flag of the Federation so the cloaking device was engaged and making an awful noise. She wasn't keen on using it but being captured by Star Fleet again was an even less attractive alternative. "We've got the upper hand here," Tig said as he looked up from his console, "They'll be expecting that Vulcan instead. If we go in, disruptors firing, we stand to make the money we need."

"We could use the Vulcan as bait," Kang said turning in his seat, "Lure them out and take our revenge that way."

"Or we can do both," Khan said. The crew turned to look at him. He was leaning against the doorframe listening in to what they were discussing, arms folded over his broad chest. "We stand to gain something for returning the Vulcan to his parents as well remember? We should send him in first, keep our weapons on him. Let him lure his associates out into the open; then we can deal with them, recapture him and take him home."

"How do we know he won't tell them?" Tig said.

"Count on that he will," Khan said, "He'll inform them, they won't know where you are, you start firing – a few well placed shots should be enough to get the job done."

Tig nodded, "Alright, I'll inform our guest the plan and ensure his co-operation." He arose and strode away.

"Our role will be to assist," Khan said. It was more a statement than a question.

"Is that wise?" Maeill said. "There will be Star Fleet agents down there."

"The co-ordinates are away from the built up areas of the planet, we'll be fine," Alhana said.

"They will not capture us again." Khan said. "I will not let that happen." Alhana liked the way he was so sure of that. Being in a Federation building was not something she ever wanted to experience again. Tavana exchanged a glance with her and she gave a slight shrug.

"Let's go."

The location was as remote as they thought; the middle of the jungle to be exact. It provided the best cover for their plan. Large leaves and dense undergrowth covered the ground while tall trees formed a thick canopy that the bright sun barely penetrated through. The small beams of light gave enough to see by but it was pale in comparison to the clearing they had surrounded.

A communication had been sent to the recipients of the crates. Tig had forced the young Vulcan, none too gently, to send the message, deluding their targets into thinking the plan had gone as they thought. Khan and Tig were on one side of the clearing, Alhana and Kang on the other. Somewhere in the area Maglin and Akhil were scouting for look outs and anyone else who might ruin their plot.

The cramp in Alhana's thigh told her they'd been there for far too long; she shifted her weight and checked her watch. Three minutes and they'd know for sure. Kang next to her stretched his leg out and checked the disrupter in his hand for the seventh time that minute. The smile on his face meant it was ready for use. His knife on his hip was free in the sheath and he looked every bit ready for a fight. She checked her own weapons; ready as they ever would be. Humming filled the air and a bright light drew her attention. Moments later, T'Kir was standing in the clearing, he had one of the crates with him and he was alone as per the instructions of the targets.

A few seconds later, the clearing lit up again and seven burly figures appeared. One was a Gorn, two were Romulan, and the rest were human. All of them looked as though they were ready for a fight. Good, a fight was welcome. Keeping a close eye on the conversation was easy, keeping her hand from drawing and firing was not. Khan had said that waiting for the right moment was key and she not going to be the one to mess things up. She forced her hand back down to her side, wiped the sweat from her palm and watched the hastily exchanged words. T'Kir looked around the clearing; the gaze of his accomplices followed his. Kang tensed beside her; she held her breath. Everything became clear, all background noise ceased. Her focus extended. This was it.

Kang drew and fired at the same time she did. Two shots fired from the opposite side of the clearing. Four of the seven fell to the ground unmoving. The remaining three, the Gorn, a Romulan and a human ducked behind whatever cover they could find. T'Kir dropped to the ground, his hands covering his head. Now the shooting began in earnest. Alhana fired her disrupter at the Gorn but he'd placed himself in such a way that a clear shot was impossible. She kept hitting the huge tree instead. Kang, who was next to her, grunted in frustration before moving on and finding a different target. Her heart hammered in her chest as she tried to aim for the Romulan instead. She could see his foot poking out from the shrub he was using as cover. It took a few shots but he got him, as he howled out from behind the bush, a shot from the other side dealt with him.

A shout from behind her turned her attention; Kang took a couple of quick shots, saving her from the rage of a Romulan scout. She nodded a thank you before continuing to fire into the clearing. "Akhil, try and sneak around the back while we have them occupied." A malevolent grin spread on her face and she crept off back into the jungle. She resumed firing on the remaining foes; a trickle of sweat ran down her forehead and into her eyes. She blinked it away, ignoring the stinging sensation that spread. Another disadvantage of not having cranial ridges, they channelled the sweat away from the eyes.

Come on, come on, Akhil should be there by now. Her disrupter was getting hot in her hand, it was an old model; maybe it was time to get a new one. Still, she continued to fire. Shots echoed back at her, the metallic zing of phaser blasts zipped past her ear, too close that time.

An abrupt scream which ended too soon caused her to stop firing. She peeked out from the tree she'd been using as cover. Akhil was there, her hands around the throat of the Romulan; the Gorn was dead. The sound of disrupter fire ceased. Alhana holstered her weapon and stepped into the clearing. Kang followed. Tig and Khan joined them after a moment. T'Kir got to his feet but remained silent. Alhana inspected the bodies lying on the ground, "This one isn't dead!" she said kicking the human onto his back

"You've no idea what you've started!" he said. His voice was husky, barely above a whisper, "Our boss will come for you."

"Don't make me laugh. You're inferior leader will soon fall." Khan said striding over. There was a cut on his temple which dribbled blood but he hadn't noticed. He placed a booted foot on the man's chest, "Shall I kill him?" he asked. Alhana nodded. A quick gesture followed by a wet squash ensured the deed was done.

"Let's search them and get going, I don't want to be here longer than we have to be." Alhana said. The crew nodded agreement and began searching for anything of value.

There was only one thing left to do; get rid of T'Kir. The young Vulcan had said nothing to them when they dragged him back to the ship. His silence continued when they threw him back in the brig and as far as Alhana knew, he was still silent now. She'd ordered the ship to Vulcan, a risky location but one she was willing to take. The cloak had held while they were in orbit on Cestus III and there was no reason for it to fail now. There would be a lot of Star Fleet ships in the area so it would have to be a quick exchange made by the crew. The Vulcan population would be aware of both her and Khan so doing it herself would be out of the question.

Then it would be finding the parts to repair the plasma coil and getting to a suitable location so it could be fixed. Maybe it was time to scan the star charts to find somewhere. Alhana stepped out of the shower and dried herself off. It always felt good to be clean after a mission. She left the shower unit just as Khan was about to enter. She gave him a knowing smile, "Nothing beats it after a fight."

"I couldn't agree more," he said as the left corner of his mouth twitched upwards.

"When you're done, I'd like your assistance with the star charts," she said. It would be the best opportunity to show him how the ship displayed them and to help familiarise him with this section of the galaxy.

"Of course."

Khan met her in the rec-room, about half an hour later, where the main access for the chart system was. The console was a back up for the one on the bridge and although it wasn't the most modern of systems, it worked well. "Has Tig or Mindor shown you how this works yet?" she asked as she logged into the system.

"No."

"OK, you can see the course plotted out already here," she said indicating a red line between two planets. Their ship was represented by a flashing red dot. There were initials next to the line which told her Tig had programmed the course. "Can you read Klingon?"

"No," Khan replied, "But I will learn it."

"You'll find it useful."

"I have a few words already that I have picked up from engineering. I will put effort into learning it from now on," he said.

"I've no doubt you'll pick it up quickly."

"Continue," he said pointing at the screen.

"If you tap this button here, it will bring up all the stars in the current area, you can zoom in and out here," Khan leaned over her as she spoke focusing entirely on the screen. Was he unaware of how close he was to her? She could feel the warmth radiating from him through the fabric of her clothes. She swallowed before continuing, "If you want to find a specific planet, you can do a look up search here." She demonstrated by typing in Vulcan. Moments later, the target planet appeared.

"I see." His breath brushed passed her ear; she shivered despite herself.

"From here you can plot in a course to the target planet. Of course, if you wanted to go to any particular co-ordinates, all you need to do is enter them here and the ship will go there." Alhana explained

"It's rather simple then."

"Yes, we're only Klingons, best to keep things on the simple side," Alhana laughed.

"But you're half human," Khan said picking up a strand of her hair and moving it out of his face.

"So I'm doubly disadvantaged."

"I wouldn't say that," Khan said. The half smile on his face made her raise an eyebrow but she remained silent, turning her attention back to the console.

"What we need to do is find somewhere we can orbit the ship for the duration of the repairs. Somewhere we won't be noticed or disturbed. We can purchase the parts from Orion easily enough. I'll send Tig to pick up the parts, along with Vrenn; they both know what they're looking for." Alhana said.

"Where would be the best place?"

"Somewhere quiet, maybe on the fringes of the Klingon Empire, we won't be out of place when we're uncloaked and Star Fleet won't go there," she said.

"How about there?" Khan said pointing to a red star system.

"Boreth IV is heavily patrolled by the Klingon Defence Force. It's a significant mining colony." Alhana said.

"There is this one then." Khan pointed to another star system not too far from the first one.

"That's Kayvok, a likely possibility in all honesty. It's far enough away from anywhere so we won't be noticed and not too far it'll take a while to get there," Alhana said with a nod. "Any other suggestions?"

Khan leaned forward some more, forcing Alhana to bend a little. She could feel his heart beating as his chest pressed against her spine. Her knees began to tremble; it took a deep breath to get them to be still once more. "Here."

"Bortas, it's also another possibility, although a little further than the first."

"Why do we not examine the first one and if it proves unworthy then go on to the second." Khan said. Alhana nodded.

"Yes." She said. "We could plot that in as soon as we're done on Vulcan."

"I'll be able to read it by then." Khan said straightening up, "I appreciate the lesson." She couldn't help feel a little shiver as he withdrew his warmth from her. She shut the console down.

"I've got some books that will help you if you want to use them," she said.

"That would be most useful."

She motioned for Khan to follow her. Moments later they were back at her quarters. Alhana reached under her bed and pulled out a box, "These things belonged to my mother," she said as she lifted it onto the bed. She pulled the lid off, it was full of books. Khan sat down on the other end of the bed to her and looked inside. His eyes had widened a fraction and his breath the sight and she chuckled. "I took them before I fled."

"These are wonderful," he said.

"You like reading?"

"I did a lot of it before I was frozen."

"Then you can help yourself whenever you want. I'll find somewhere safe to put them so you can get them whenever." Khan picked one of the bound books up and turned the page as though it could break at any time. The characters were in Klingon yet he scanned the page as though he was reading it. "There are some in English and I think Spanish."

"I speak those." Khan said replacing the book.

"Take a few with you," Alhana said.

Khan looked up with a genuine smile on his face, his pale blue eyes danced as he met her dark ones. "Thank you," he said. It was heart felt and she smiled back.

"You're welcome."

He looked through the box some more, he picked out a large tome and inhaled sharply. "Paradise Lost!" he exclaimed.

"There is a copy in Klingon too; it's what my mother used to learn to read."

"I shall follow the example of your mother then. She is a wise woman to pick such a tale." He said.

"Here," she said handing him the Klingon copy. He took it from her with a smile and turned away.

"I will see you later," he said before leaving, the pages already open as he walked off. Alhana found that her room felt strangely large without his presence in it.


	11. Chapter 11

New Vulcan. The giant red planet below them was surrounded by huge docking stations. Countless ships of many shapes and sizes buzzed back and forth like a host of worker bees taking cargo to and from the planet. The colony had been set up for a few years now but by the look of it, there was still a lot of work going on. The Vulcan ships were not the problem; the Star Fleet vessels on the other hand, if they got a sniff they were here, there would be major trouble, trouble that would create an incident with the Klingon High Council, something she was very keen to avoid. Alhana knew they had neither the fire power nor the warp power to take on a Federation vessel so subterfuge would have to serve instead of brute strength.

"We'll be fine." Tig said.

"I have no doubt." Alhana replied refusing to voice her fears.

Tig was to lead the party, Kang, Tavana and Maeill, the Romulan, were going with him. She could only hope that the presence of the Klingon's wouldn't cause enough raised eyebrows to be a problem. The hand over was to take place in an hour. T'Kir had remained silent throughout the rest of the journey, refusing to engage in any conversation or interaction with the crew. He'd remained sat on the floor of his cell ignoring everything around him. He had drunk only water and refused any form of food they had bothered to offer. The most troubling point of the whole affair was who he could be working for. He's threatened them with retribution of some sort but had refused to elaborate when questioned and nothing had been forthcoming either. She'd left strict instructions about leaving no mark on him either so physical techniques were useless. Maybe it was nothing, just idle threats, somehow she didn't think so.

"We're ready." Tig said snapping her out of her thoughts.

"The prisoner is in the transporter room." Kang's disembodied voice said through the crackling comm system.

"We're on our way." Alhana said. She nodded at Akhil before following Tig to the transporter. Khan was in there, keeping the prisoner restrained. T'Kir's arm was twisted behind his back but his face remained a non expressive mask. Although this was not unusual for a Vulcan, it didn't make it any less frustrating. Tig stepped onto the transport pad and gave a curt nod.

"Ready."

"Be in touch." Alhana said. Khan released T'Kir into Kang's capable hands and moved to stand beside Alhana. He was just a tiny bit too close, she could smell him and the scent did odd things to her insides, a lump rose in her throat that she couldn't quite swallow yet she did not step forward. She forced herself to remain in this close proximity, not letting him know he got to her on some level. She was not going to let a small distraction like this intimidate her.

"We will be back within two hours." Tig said.

"Go." Alhana said. The swirling pattern of the transporter kicked in and her friends disappeared in a warm glow. She took a deep breath, "Now for the worst part."

"Waiting?"

"Yes."

"What would you normally do in this situation?"

"Fight someone."

"Do you wish to fight?" Khan said. He pushed black hair back from his face and raised a black eyebrow.

"I don't know. I should do, I don't want to get out of practice." Alhana said.

"It doesn't have to be for long."

"And you might even learn something new." Alhana said. Khan raised both eyebrows at that, she laughed. "Well? Are you versed in the use of a D'k tagh?" she said beginning to walk away. Khan followed.

"I have fought with blades before," he said with a nod.

"Go and fetch a pair from the weapons room. I will inform the bridge of our actions and meet you in the cargo bay." Alhana said. Khan nodded and they parted for the moment

Sweat ran into Alhana's eyes and she brushed it away with the back of her hand. Her lungs sucked in air; they felt more like deflated balloons than organs used for breathing. She tossed a glare at her sparring partner; he wasn't having half as much trouble as she was, probably something to do with his genetic breeding. His breathing was normal and the light sweat on his brow hardly touched his hairline. Her own locks were plastered to the back of her neck and scratched when she moved. Her skin was slick and she knew she wouldn't be able to keep this up for that much longer, they'd been doing this for nearly an hour now. Not just a mild bout here and there but full on fighting for an hour. And he wasn't even winded!

Her hand tightened on her D'k tagh and she darted forward. She feinted left before darting to the right. Khan caught her right hand and applied pressure on her wrist. She used her own momentum to twist away, this time; she kept the grip on her blade as she broke free. "Better!" Khan shouted. He followed her round; she brought the blade up and blocked the blow to her face. His knuckles grazed the blade and a trickle of blood began to seep through. Alhana had an equal number of wounds on her own body. The sting was easy to ignore however, even when the sweat seeped into it, making them scream. His next move sent her sprawling across the floor. She landed with a thud; the air driven from her lungs once again. She coughed and struggled to her knees. Heavy footsteps pounded towards her. She gripped her knife and waited for her opponent to arrive beside her. As he stopped she brought the hilt down onto the bridge of his foot. A surprised yelp made her smile.

"How's that?" she said pulling herself upright.

"Not what I expected."

"Good." She took a deep breath and flicked wet hair out her face. "Are you hurt?" The flat look he gave her spoke more than any word could have done.

"Are you?" She shook her head, "Do you want to carry on?"

"Why not?"

Khan smiled and moved to the other end of the cargo bay, putting his knife down. "Just hands this time," he said. Alhana threw her dagger to the side and jumped up and down a couple of times, trying to sum up some more energy for the next round. This time, he came for her. She was ready for the blow he aimed at her head. She ducked under it and sprang left, avoiding the follow up blow from his other hand. She kicked his calf but the aim was off, causing nothing more than an inconvenience rather than sending him to the floor. She danced back, dodging another swing and brought her arm round to block a sharp jab. The force was more than she anticipated and she reeled backwards. Damn it! How could he remain so calm and unfazed by it? His leg caught hers and she tottered backwards. Flailing, she grabbed at air before falling. She landed on her butt with a thud.

"Good dodging." Khan said. Alhana clambered up once more and nodded.

"I am going to have more than a few bruises tomorrow. You have blood on you too; I didn't think I cut you so much." Khan looked at his hands and forearms.

"It will heal. Are we done?" he asked.

"I need a shower," she said nodding.

"It's been an hour and a half, Tig will be back soon." Khan said.

"True that, we need to get out of here as soon as we can," Alhana said as she walked to the door, "Too many Star Fleet vessels in this neighbourhood."

Khan nodded, "I agree."

As they left the cargo bay, a horrendous clatter sounded deep inside the ship. It was followed by a dying whir as something powered down. Alhana looked at Khan, "That was the plasma coil," she said. As she broke into a run, the comm system hailed her.

"Captain. The plasma coil has overloaded… the cloaking device. We're visible." It was Ranka who spoke.

"Have we been spotted Akhil?" she said. "Khan; engineering." He nodded and she turned to the bridge.

"It's only a matter of time."

She catapulted onto the bridge and into her chair. "Tig?"

"Captain," he answered instantly and she let out a small sigh.

"We need to go, the plasma coil has overloaded. We're visible. We shall return for you as soon as we can."

"Go!" he barked.

"Mindor, take us to the nearest planet in the next system." The Orion punched the console and the ship began to move. The next question on her mind was had they been spotted?


	12. Chapter 12

Only when they were away from Vulcan and hiding behind an asteroid did Alhana allow herself to breathe a little easier. The report from engineering was not great; it would take at least twenty four hours to get the cloaking device back up and running. The trouble had been caused by a fluctuation in the plasma coil; it was now operating normally according to Vrenn, which was typical. Her thoughts turned to those she'd been forced to leave behind on Vulcan; hopefully they'd be able to find a place to hide until they returned. It would have to be after the cloak was fixed, that couldn't be helped.

Alhana was about to go and see if there was anything she could do, she wasn't the most competent engineer but she knew enough to keep the ship running. Maybe another pair of hands would be useful but she was prevented by Akhil. "It's that star ship captain again," she said. "He wants to talk to you again."

"The same one as before?"

"Yes."

"What on Praxis does he want now?" Alhana said, more to herself than anyone. They must have seen them before they fled Vulcan. "Put him through." The handsome face of the young Captain appeared once more and Alhana painted her best smile on her face, "We meet again."

"Sooner than I thought too," he said, "Good day Captain."

"How can I help? We're a little busy repairing our ship at the moment but I will do my best to assist you."

"Actually, there is something you can do for me Ms De Torres," Kirk said, the smile on his face was bordering on smug. She wanted nothing more than to beat it from his features.

"Oh?"

"You can explain how you managed to escape Star Fleet custody two weeks ago. Why you lied to me the other day when we asked about the fugitive and what you hope to achieve by allowing him to escape." Kirk said. His eyes narrowed, there would be no point trying to feign ignorance, he was too intelligent for that and she wouldn't insult him that way.

Alhana smiled as she swung in her chair a little, "The manner of my escape is simple. I'm sure you watched the video on your screens and don't need me to explain it to you again."

"Please, explain away."

"Very well. I dislocated my thumb to get out the cuffs attaching me to the bed. My companion merely broke his cuffs. The rest was a case of fighting our way out the building and allowing my shipmates to beam us out." Alhana said. It seemed so simple now after the event and yet, it had seemed so hard at the time.

Kirk nodded, "What did you do with him when you were free?"

"What any sensible being would have. I shot him and threw him in the brig." Kirk exchanged a glance with someone off screen.

"And then?"

"We talked. We discussed some interesting points about his situation; how his crew were killed by a member of your crew, how he'd been used by Star Fleet to develop weapons to use against my people. Rather fascinating really. I knew humans were capable of dishonourable acts but that was certainly illuminating." Alhana said, keeping her tone level.

"What did you do with him?"

"Are you anxious to get him back?"

Another crew member moved to stand behind the Captain's chair. He was a young Vulcan, not dissimilar looking to T'Kir. His face was serious when he raised his head to speak to her. "He is a particularly dangerous man, responsible for the deaths of many, including the Captain here."

"He looks fine to me," Alhana said before she could stop herself.

"I was healed by the restorative power Khan had in his blood." Kirk said. Alhana nodded, interesting, she'd have to ask about that detail later. "But that's beside the point, where is he?" Beside the point indeed, if Star Fleet had the ability to cure death what would that mean for everyone else in the galaxy?

"Truthfully? I don't know." She said, "I saw no reason for our alliance to continue and neither did he. I let him go on Cestus III and have heard nothing since."

"How do we know you are telling the truth?"

"You don't." she said with a shrug.

"Would you mind if we came aboard?" Kirk said.

"Are you simple?" she snorted, her eyes widening, "This is a D-12 class Warship. Admittedly she has had some modifications done and she has seen better days but the fact still stands. We may not be members of the Klingon Empire but I'll be damned if I will be the one to give Star Fleet her secrets. I know you don't have cloaking technology."

"It would appear that you do not either," the Vulcan said.

"You're not coming aboard this ship." Alhana said with a cutting gesture of her hand. "I mean no disrespect but I fear the Empire's retribution more than yours." This much was the truth at least.

"We could just beam aboard." Kirk said.

"Where would that get you?" she asked folding her arms, "Except surrounded by a large amount of angry Klingons?" and one very pissed off generically engineered human, "You'd be thrown in the brig and turned over to the Empire."

"You are no friend of the Empire."

"Trespassing aboard my ship would make you my enemy. The Empire is not my enemy." Alhana said. She was trying to keep the edge from her voice. She let out a deep breath and relaxed her grip on her chair.

"I don't suppose you're willing to wait for us while we journey to Cestus III and check your story?" Kirk said.

"I have work to do Captain," she replied. "I cannot wait around for you to search the galaxies for a prisoner you were unable to keep captive."

Kirk seemed to ponder her words for a moment before shifting his weight in his chair, "What were you doing near Vulcan?"

"Working." She said.

"On what?"

"I don't have to tell you that." Alhana replied. "Is there anything else Captain? I have a ship to fix."

"Just one thing, why were you so eager to avoid being seen while around Vulcan?" he said. Alhana rolled her eyes.

"In case you forgot, I am a half Klingon flying around in a Klingon War ship in Federation space. I have business on Vulcan but this would scream suspicious. Low and behold, here you are and we're having this conversation." Alhana said folding her arms, "Are we done?"

"We'll be in touch Captain." Kirk said. She nodded and the screen returned to displaying the stars. Sighing, she got to her feet and glanced around the bridge. Akhil nodded and Alhana left for engineering.

When she arrived, Khan and Vrenn were busy. There was a host of tools scattered on the floor and some hastily shouted words battering back and forth. "Hey!" she shouted. They both looked around. "Any news?"

"We can get this fixed in twenty hours, more or less." Vrenn said

"Normally I'd sing praises at that but we need it done faster, I've just sent the _Enterprise_ off to Cestus III on another chase but chances are they won't be gone for long. They're really pissed at you Khan." She said looking at him. "Anything you can do to get this done faster?"

"Some of these parts are fried, it's going to take a lot to bodge it together and get it working again." Vrenn said. Alhana nodded.

"I know you'll do everything you can." Alhana said. "Khan will help." He inclined his head a touch. "Call me if you have anything to report." She turned away and headed back to her own room. The door had barely shut before it hushed opened again.

"Wait."

"What's the problem Khan?" Alhana said. The sweat from their fight earlier was beginning to stink and the bruises to appear, the strain from the conversation with Kirk was showing and all she wanted to do was shower, maybe catch a couple of hours sleep so she was refreshed again.

"There is no problem."

"Then what do you want?"

"I know how petulant Kirk can be. I feel I should thank you for hiding me." Khan said. He placed his hands on her shoulders and smiled that enticing smile of his. Blood rushed to her cheeks but she held his intense gaze, refusing to back down. "I'm grateful."

"It's OK." Alhana said. He trailed his hands down to her forearms and gave them a gentle squeeze. "Was there something else?" she said.

"No," he said. "I will return to the cloaking device." He released her and she watched him go. She starred at the door long after it had shut. Shaking her head she decided to hit the shower; at least that would make her feel a bit more comfortable.


	13. Chapter 13

The shower had been wonderful, the water had flushed away the sweat and with it a lot of the stress of her last interview. Wrapped in a towel, Alhana sat in front of a mirror and brushed out her thick auburn hair. She hated her low hairline; it had caused her more than her fair share of grief when she was a child and even now it only served to remind her that she was only a half Klingon. No one would ever want to ally with her, make her a part of their house or have much to do with her. It had been a tough lesson to learn as a child and caused more than one or two arguments in her family. One that was still on going it would seem. She pushed her wet hair back from her head and smiled. It wasn't so bad, she had a ship, some decent friends and she was free to go where she wanted. She stretched, dressed and headed to the bridge with a yawn. There would be time for sleep later, right now; they had to get Tig, Tavana and Kang back.

"Is that ship still there?" she said as she entered the bridge.

"Yes."

"Shit! Why are they hanging around here?" she said, more to herself than anyone else.

"Probably waiting for you to get on with that work you mentioned we had to do." Akhil said.

"More than likely," Alhana said with a laugh. "Plot a course back to Vulcan, nice and steady; give the lads fifteen hours to repair the cloak."

"As you wish," Mindor said. The ship whirred to life under the capable hands of the Orion navigator. As the Warbird moved, the _Enterprise_ drifted from the screen and they began the slow journey back to Vulcan. Alhana only hoped they wouldn't follow them again.

The Warbird steadily flew her way back to New Vulcan, the journey was about as interesting as watching the construction of a toilet block on Praxis. There were no communications to translate and nothing she could do in the engine room except get in the way. Alhana found that she missed the banter that passed between Kang and Tavana, even Tig and Kang's bickering would be better than the eerie silence that filled the bridge in their absence. The three Klingon's had been a part of the crew for so long that them not being there was the same as not having the cloaking device.

Mindor and Akhil were relieved by Maeill and Emony; she considered going for some sleep herself but the thought of Khan and Vrenn working as hard as they could kept her in her seat. She resorted to reading the records for nearby trading planets, if the recent events had told her one thing, it was that they desperately needed new parts. They still had the cargo from T'Kir to shift; she was unsure what it was for that matter. Something she should go and investigate further before she considered selling it on.

They were just over half way to Vulcan when Emony looked up from her scanner with a frown, "We're being followed."

"Fucking Star Fleet!" Alhana said clenching her fist, "Poking their nose in where it isn't wanted! How far behind us are they?"

"Far enough to appear as though they are travelling to the same destination without it looking like a chase," she replied.

"I should have known." Alhana grumbled. "Engineering?"

"Yes?" It was Vrenn.

"How soon can we have the cloak working? The _Enterprise_ has decided to follow us back to New Vulcan," she said.

"Work is coming along well but we're still a few hours off."

"Keep me informed," she said before cutting them off. "Emony, are they getting any closer?"

"Not that I can see Captain."

"Good, keep watching and if anything changes, tell me." Alhana said. Emony returned to her scanner with a quick nod. If they could get the cloak fixed, it would be much easier to lose the _Enterprise_ ; still, if it came to it, she'd get her crew beamed back on board then warp away with as much speed as they could muster. "How long before we arrive?"

"We still have fourteen hours and ten minutes."

"I hate waiting," she said. "I'm going to check on that cargo we have, find out what it is exactly. Contact me if you need anything." Emony and Maeill nodded and she left the bridge, she had to do something! The short walk to the cargo bay passed and she moved to the nearest crate. Opening the lid, she saw the foodstuffs that they'd been given. Looking again, she spotted a small scratch on the inside of one of them. She leaned forward and removed the top few layers of food. Her eyes widened.

When they'd taken on the job they'd asked no questions, now she rather wished she had. Inside the crate, under the food, was row upon row of medical vaccines. She picked one of them up and scanned the labels. It was for the deadly Quazulu virus. What on Praxis were those miscreants doing with crates of this virus? Hosts of questions flooded through her as she checked another crate. It held the same vaccine. What was worse, they had Federation labels over them, no one would buy them, no one in their right mind anyway. Each individual vaccine had a traceable number. Alhana sighed and put the lid back on the crate; a problem for another day, for now at least. She plonked herself on the crate and sat for a moment, a vicious yawn erupted from her and she stretched her back. Maybe it was time to get some sleep, there were a few hours before she would be needed and if anything major happened, the crew would come and wake her.

A sharp knock at the door of her quarters brought Alhana out of a restful dream, "What is it?" she muttered as she sat up.

"May I come in?"

"Yes," she said pulling her cover around her. The door opened and Khan replaced it. He yawned and sat down on her chair, "Don't tell me the superior intellect is falling asleep on his feet," she said. Looking at him, she got the impression that he had been working very hard. There were traces of grime on his pale skin and his black hair was dishevelled in a way that was not altogether unattractive. Alhana found that she preferred him with hair that was that little bit longer. She hoped he would let it grow a little more too.

"The cloaking device is fixed." Khan said, "And yes, even I need to sleep sometimes."

"Shame, I could use your opinion on something." Khan raised an eyebrow, "Usually I ask Tig or Kang about such things but things being what they are…"

"What is it?"

"The crates are full of Star Fleet medical supplies, all traceable and all unsellable. I have no idea what to do with them," she said as she pushed hair from her face. Khan's expression didn't change yet his vivid blue eyes seemed to harden somewhat.

"I may have an idea that could get you out of trouble with them as well as get our missing crew members back," he said, "Although the idea of helping Star Fleet sickens me."

"Yeah, me too. That Captain of theirs is proving to be a right pain in the backside," she said.

"You have no idea." She grumbled an agreement on that note.

"So, this idea of yours?"

"We have six hours before we arrive at New Vulcan, allow me some time to freshen up and maybe get some sleep. I want to think it through a little more before I tell you. I will meet with you before we arrive and I will tell you my thoughts then." Khan said pulling his hand over his face. For a brief moment, she saw passed the cool mask, revealing a very weary individual underneath.

"Very well. Go and get sorted, I'll speak to you then." Khan arose and left her to get herself changed and ready for the next set of challenges.

This time, the Warbird orbited New Vulcan without hiding. The _Enterprise_ had turned up about half an hour after they'd arrived and in the interest of maintaining a good appearance Alhana had decided to remain visible. She'd also decided to begin orbit on the side of the planet furthest away from the Vulcan settlement. The first order of business was the missing crew members, then the _Enterprise_ and the medicines they had on board.

"Alhana to Tig," she said into the communication systems. No response was forthcoming. "Tig, come in, this is Alhana. Respond." Alhana gave it a moment before repeating her command. "Praxis' Moon, if you know what's good for you, you'll answer this Tig!" she said.

There was a garbled sound followed by a husky voice, "What?" It was Tig. A half asleep, grumpy sounding Tig, but Tig none the less.

"Report!" she said.

"Captain, T'Kir is with his family, Kang, Tavana and I are camped in local woodland and no one knows we're here." Tig said. "We are ready to beam back aboard when you are."

"Good, be ready." Alhana cut the link and patched through to engineering ordering them to beam up the missing crew members. Two minutes later, they informed her they were back on board ship and safe once more. She resisted the urge to rush to make sure for herself, instead she waited for them to join her on the bridge. Tig arrived first. He looked terrible.

"Glad to be back?"

"Sleeping out of doors has never been something I enjoyed," he replied. There were still a couple of dry leaves in his tangle of long dark hair and mud clung to his skin. "What has happened while I was gone?"

"We have repaired the cloaking device but it is not currently active, we have been followed by the _Enterprise_ and remain under their scrutiny but not for long. The cargo in those crates is a vaccine which we will be unable to shift due to its labelling and I think that is it." Alhana said, counting each point off on her fingers.

"Not much then." Tig said sitting in his chair. He tapped into his station and yawned.

"I intend to give the vaccines to New Vulcan, they'll be able to make use of them and we'll not be tracked," Alhana said.

"You're going soft." Tig said with an amused snort.

"What else would you have me do?" she said rubbing her hand over her face. "I'm going to do so via the _Enterprise_."

"Might get them off our case." Tig said as he thumped her on her back, "Good idea."

"It was Khan's. Where are the other two?" she asked.

"I sent them off duty," Tig replied, "They looked worse than I did."

"Probably smelled it too, go and get yourself cleaned and rested." Alhana said, "That's an order." Tig nodded before leaving the bridge once more. Alhana turned to the screen and sighed; it was time to get the whole affair over with, "Hail that ship," she said. Within moments, Kirk's smug face filled the screen.

"Captain," he said with the incline of his head.

"Captain," she replied, also returning the gesture.

"What can we do for you?" He seemed surprised to see her again, so much the better.

"I have a problem Captain and I believe you may be interested to hear the solution. It will be beneficial for all of us."

"Go ahead," he said. His interest showed in a light crinkling around his eyes and a tug at the left corner of his mouth.

"Our last mission didn't go according to plan. We were left with a certain type of cargo we are unable to sell." Alhana said.

"Medicine."

"Correct."

"We've been using it to follow you. It was stolen by a group of thieves while on route to the Tyree system. How did you end up with it?" Kirk asked as he sat back in his chair.

"We were transporting it for someone. The delivery went wrong and we ended up keeping it. I didn't know what it was until recently. I cannot sell it on so you may as well have it. I'm sure it had an intended purpose." Alhana explained. "We'll beam it on board for you." She said.

"What do you get out of this?" Kirk asked, his eyes narrowed by a tiny fraction.

"Left alone. You can't track us; we won't be on anyone's radar once they're gone. I can conduct my business in peace like I always have," she said. Kirk turned to talk to someone off screen, likely his first officer, for a long moment. Alhana rubbed her sweaty hands on her pants as Kirk turned back to face her.

"Very well Captain, we'll take the vaccine for you." Kirk said.

"Excellent, I will have that beamed to you in the next few minutes."

Kirk nodded, "I hope to do business with you again soon." He said before the screen went blank. She gave the order; engineering would see to the beaming of the cargo. Then it was just a case of cloaking and getting as far away from New Vulcan as they could as fast as they could go.

The ten minutes that it took to deposit the cargo dragged into an eternity. It was as though an hour had passed when Akhil told her the task was complete. As soon as they were done, the ship was cloaked and they left the system. After another ten minutes, Alhana's breathing returned to normal. Another five and Khan stepped onto the bridge, the ghost of a smile on his face. "So glad to be away from there." Alhana said to him.

"They'll have you listed as a thief and smuggler now." Khan said taking a seat to her left.

"Least it isn't murder," she said.

"True, where are you taking us?"

"The Tyrus system – a small place that will sell the parts we need. Then to the fifth planet in the Ceti Alpha system, it has no sentient species but it is capable of sustaining life. I am tired and could use a few days rest and I am sure the rest of the crew do too. We need time to repair and plan our next move," she said. Khan nodded.

"It will be nice to set foot on the ground again." Akhil said.

"We all need it." Alhana said. There were general sounds of agreement around the bridge and Alhana smiled, they had all earned a rest and finally, her ship was going to be repaired. No more worrying about the plasma coil overloading. It would also be a great chance to look at other minor tasks that needed doing. There were more than a few and if they did it in shifts, it would get done soon enough. She felt that it was time to start working on a rota.


	14. Chapter 14

The landscape on Ceti Alpha V was magnificent. It all seemed to be two or three times larger than it was on Kronos. Everything from the trees to the life forms, the mountains and rocks, even the blades of grass were huge. Most of her crew had decided that this meant everything alive was worth hunting. Kang and Tig had split most of the crew into two parties and the challenge had been set; whoever killed the most won, the losers were doomed to cook the food for the winners. Tavana and Vrenn had remained aboard but were due to swap with Ranka and Emony in the next half hour or so. Thankfully, the plasma coil had been fixed and the leave was due to finish in a couple of days.

Alhana sat on a hill watching a troupe of giant ants go about their business, the way they marched back and forth reminded her of some of the fetch and carry missions they'd done in the past. Except these creatures were the size of house cats and looked particularly mean. Some easy work like that would be rather welcome after the madness of the last few weeks. "This is a good planet." Khan said from behind her. Alhana jumped as her thoughts were interrupted.

"It's rude to sneak up on people," she replied leaning back to look up at him. He peered down at her with intense blue eyes before sitting next to her. "Why is this planet good?"

"I believe you could live here and lead a satisfactory existence without too much effort. There is enough game here to keep your Klingon fellows happy, which means good hunting. The trees are large enough to build decent habitation and there is plenty of everything." Khan said, pointing to the items in question as he spoke.

"Are you getting fed up of life in this century then?"

"No. Of all the planets we have been to during the last few weeks, this one is the most hospitable."

"Yes, I suppose you're right, no natives to get in the way either," Alhana nodded. "How are you getting on with Klingon?"

"I am sufficient enough to read most of the words in the computer," he said, "However, it is good to speak in my own tongue at times," he added switching to English, he then uttered something incomprehensible.

"I'm sorry." Alhana said, "What language is that?"

"Hindi, the language of the country of my birth, back before Earth became the single state it is now, do not trouble yourself, not many speak it now and I have not spoken any for many years," he said. "Except perhaps to curse in."

"Do you miss your home?"

Khan didn't answer straight away and she didn't press the issue, he would tell her if he wanted to. The silence stretched between them and Alhana let out a small sigh, she knew she should return to the Warbird and begin making the necessary preparations for the next part of the journey. "I would give anything to see the sun set behind the Taj Mahal once more." Khan said, his voice no more than a whisper, "Not a day passes where I do not find myself thinking about my lost friends and family." Alhana turned to look into the eyes of her friend.

"I'm sorry you lost them," she said pushing her hair behind her ear.

"It's not your fault, I failed them. I promised to lead them to a new world when we left Earth in 1996 and instead they exploded inside torpedo pods. I should have done so much more." Khan said. Alhana was content to listen to his thoughts and she wondered if he'd spoken to anyone else about his dead crew. Who else was there? They weren't exactly the most tactful when it came to sensitive issues like this but then again, neither was she.

"Tell me about them," she said resting her chin on her hands. If he needed someone to listen, then that was something she could do. He looked into her face for a long moment, getting the measure of her eyes, nose and chin; a smile tugged at her mouth and she licked her dry lips. He smiled back at her, a gesture that softened his harsh eyes and chased the cares away making him look younger and yet older at the same time.

"I do not wish to speak of them," he said with a shake of his head, "It is a bright day and I shouldn't dwell on dark thoughts. There is time enough for that while in space. What do you usually do while on leave?" he asked.

"I normally assist with the repairs of the ship but the plasma coil is beyond my skills. The files are up to date and there are no additions to the charts to be made at this time. I can't remember the last time I had nothing to do." Alhana said.

"That is something I can relate to."

"What a pair we make." Alhana said with a laugh, "No longer remember how to have fun."

"We could fight?"

"I haven't the energy." Alhana replied licking her lips again.

"A walk then?" Khan said getting to his feet.

"Very well. Is there something you want to show me?" She eyed him suspiciously, knowing there was more to this than he was saying.

Khan merely smiled and held out his palm to help her up. She accepted and he pulled her to her feet. His hand was cool in hers, a wave of heat flashed through her and she stumbled. Khan caught her and for the brief moment that he held her against him her heart refused to beat. Their eyes locked for a second that lasted an eternity. Slowly, he released her, "Steady."

"It's OK," she murmured as she took a step backwards. The gulf between them widened and Alhana felt cold for a moment. She shook her head, dismissing the silly notion and gestured for him to lead onwards. Instead of striding ahead, Khan fell in beside her, they walked in silence over the hill and down into a small grove of trees. The main feature of the grove was a clear pool of blue water which was surrounded by lush long green grass. It was a beautiful place.

"Do you swim?"

"What possible practicalities would I have for swimming Khan?" Alhana asked, "I work and operate a spaceship."

"You should learn! The rush of cool water over your hot skin on a summer day is so pleasurable I cannot describe it." Khan said as he removed his shirt. Alhana raised an eyebrow and smothered a grin. He was rather nice to look at, even if he was human. His boots followed and he looked at her sidelong as he bent over. She suddenly found the long blades of grass next to her fascinating; she didn't look up until she heard the splash of him diving into the pool. Then she watched Khan swim for a while.

"Come on, the water is nice."

Alhana walked to the water's edge and removed her boots. She placed them next to Khan's and rolled her pants up to above the knee. Flopping down on a rock she dangled her legs in the water, Khan was right; the feel of the cool liquid on her skin was wonderful.

"You won't come in?" he said.

"I can't swim."

"I can teach you." Khan said. She shook her head. He took a deep breath and sank below the surface. Alhana didn't see where he went and looked around, what if he didn't surface, what if… Something grabbed her foot and she squealed. One swift jerk and water engulfed her. The cold liquid penetrated her shirt, swamped her hair and flooded her very being. Hands guided her back to the surface and she swallowed a lungful of air. "Feels good doesn't it."

"No!" Spluttering out water that ran into her mouth, she gave him a scathing look. She struggled to reach the bottom of the pool, kicking her legs and waving her arms, causing a splash.

"Be still," Khan said, "You'll make it worse. Relax, I won't let you go." Alhana stilled her legs but kept her arms spread wide on the surface of the water.

"I don't like it," she whispered.

"Just imagine it as being a large bath." Khan said. The thought didn't help, the hands encircling her waist did and she tried to do as he asked. He opened his mouth to speak when a decidedly electronic beeping filled it.

"Captain?" It was Maeill. Khan boosted her back onto the rocks and she retrieved the communicator with a dripping hand.

"Yes?"

"We need you on board, there's something you need to see." He said.

"Very well. Two to beam up." She said. The warmth of the transporter kicked in a moment later and they were back on board in seconds. Both were dripping wet and the semi-naked state of Khan raised a couple of eyebrows. "This better be important," she said as she left the pad and headed towards the bridge.

"This is like nothing we've ever seen before," Maeill said as he led them both to the command centre of the ship, "There's a strange energy reading coming from the Ceti Alpha VI."

"What type of reading?" Alhana asked.

"Strange, like a pulsing. That in itself doesn't mean anything but it's coming from the centre of the planet." Maeill said.

"Get it on screen," Alhana said as they walked through the doors of the bridge. Maeill nodded and the bright red of the planet appeared in the middle of screen. There was nothing she could see that was odd about the planet; it looked like it always had.

"There." Khan said. He pointed at the screen. Alhana tried to follow his finger but there was nothing out of the ordinary she could make out. Suddenly, there was a flash before the entire screen turned white. What happened next was catastrophic.


	15. Chapter 15

When the flash subsided and Alhana's eyesight returned to normal, what she saw appalled her. There was nothing but a black void where Ceti Alpha VI had been. The area was littered with the remains of the now dead planet. "Brace for impact." Tavana said. Alhana tensed and the ship was bombarded by the force of the explosion. Something behind her rattled and crashed as it hit the floor but there was no lasting noise. Alhana turned her attention back to the screen and looked across the area once more.

"What on Kronos happened?" she asked. The sound of the scanner kicked in and all she could do for the moment was stare. There were patches of light glistening from some of the remaining rocks. Red and blue fragments glinted sadly in the now void patch of space that had but recently been teeming with life.

"I would guess that Ceti Alpha VI had become unstable leading to what we have just witnessed." Khan said, his tone dry. Alhana just nodded.

"I can only confirm that it's gone." Maeill said, "There is no way to ascertain what has caused the planet to explode. Nor do we know what it means for the rest of this star system."

"Bring everyone back." Alhana said.

"A wise move captain." Khan said. "We don't know what effect that will have on the planet."

"Tavana, make sure everyone gets back and then get us out of here. This may not be an important system but that explosion may have been monitored. I don't want to be here when Star Fleet, or anyone else, comes sniffing around," she said. With that, she left the bridge and headed back to her own quarters. The soaked material of her clothes chaffed against her skin and she was keen to get rid of it. Also, the air on the ship was significantly cooler than it had been on the ground and she was starting to get cold.

As soon as she was dry and changed, Alhana returned to the bridge and took her place in the chair. It took a good few minutes to get the rest of the crew back on board but the moment they were all there, the ship was cloaked and on the move. "Where to Captain?" Tavana asked.

"Organia," Alhana said. "There are a few leads for work to investigate there and if I remember rightly, there are some decent places to relax too." She added. Tig joined them on the bridge a moment later.

"What was that about?" he grumbled as he took his place.

"Ceti Alpha VI exploded." Tig raised an eyebrow so she explained the rest to him. "It'll take a while before we get to Organia but I seem to remember that Ch'Tak was in the area looking for aid."

Tig nodded, "Very well."

"Besides, we could pick up some more supplies of our own that we can't get out here in the back waters of nowhere." Alhana said. There was no argument and the bridge returned to its normal functional department. The soft beep of the instruments and the distant humming of the engine was more of a comfort than the water Khan had dumped her in earlier. Thinking of which, she should go and give the human a good piece of her mind. What was he thinking? She could have drowned in the water! Blood pounded in her ears as the thought revolved around in her head.

The thought haunted her through the hours that she spent on the bridge. She tried distracting herself from it by reviewing some of the reports that she had already scanned. What made it worse was she could still feel where his hands, his strong hands, had encircled her waist. It made her want to throw things at his head and that wasn't a good sign. He was a human, enhanced or not, and it would be bad for business. So why was she unable to shake the thoughts of him from her head? Frustrated, she knocked a clenched fist against her chair. "Captain?" Tavana said with a frown.

"I need to take a walk, or to punch something," she growled, "Tig, you take over." Tavana glanced at Tig but no more was said. Alhana left the bridge and headed down to the cargo bay. The room was empty so she set to pacing back and forth along the deck. She picked up a knife that had fallen onto the floor and passed it from one hand to the other. This was no good, she'd have to talk to Khan, tell him how annoyed she was at the water incident. Maybe it would help her mind to settle. Something clattered behind her, before she knew what she was doing; she pivoted and hurled the knife at the danger.

Without changing his expression, Khan moved his head slightly to the left. The blade stuck into the wall behind him with a thunk, "Is that where it belongs or do you want it removing?" he said. Alhana rolled her eyes.

"It belongs in the weapons hold." She replied.

"Should I be flattered or are you sick of me being here already?" he said pulling the blade from the wall.

"Flattered?" Alhana said as her lip curling into a sneer.

"You were the one who told me to learn about Klingon culture," Khan shrugged as he shoved the knife into his belt. Alhana flushed. She'd thrown it at his head.

"It was an accident."

"Oh I know it was, but the colour of your face is an all too human reaction," he said. Alhana's eyes narrowed, "No, don't get mad," he said holding up a hand.

"Why not? How dare you? It's not wise to point out a woman's faults and less advisable to goad a Klingon." He walked towards her, "Don't you come anywhere near me," she growled. She pushed on his chest as he approached her but she may as well have been shoving a cliff face. He stopped just within arm's length.

"We both know you're not angry with me," he said. "Although you may not realise it yet... You're a creature of two worlds Alhana, if you look close enough, you'll understand what that means."

He was so close, she could smell the dried water from the pool on his flesh, could hear him breathing, so soft and yet so strong. She longed to reach out and scrape her nails down his chiselled chest, bury her fingers into his thick black hair. Her own heart pounded in her ears, her breath caught in her throat. She swallowed. His eyes flashed down to her mouth before flicking back to her gaze. Those blue eyes engulfed her rage until all she could do was tremble. She leaned back against the wall for support, "That's what I thought," he said before moving passed her and out of the cargo bay.

Alhana sagged against the wall and let out a breath, glad that he'd left her be. He'd robbed her of her anger and her energy. She yawned and took a moment to steady her trembling legs. Presently, she left the cargo hold and found herself in her own quarters. She threw herself on her bed and let Khan's words flow through her mind. Somehow the incident in the water had never entered their conversation and she found that she no longer cared about it. She was no longer angry and her head felt clear. It was time to let the events unfold as they would, there was no point worrying about it, and there always work to be done after all.

She sat up and stretched, knowing that she should relieve Tig, he'd been hunting when they'd beamed him up and it was unfair to make him run the ship while she sulked about something beyond her control. Alhana walked back to the bridge and made her first officer take a break despite his protestations. It was time to contact Ch'Tak about the work he had. It was bound to be nothing good but it was better than hanging around looking for something to do. She punched up the communications recorder and began composing her message. What was the worst that could happen?


	16. Chapter 16

It was good to be on solid ground once more. Although it had not been that long since they'd stopped before, it was always good to feel the ground beneath her feet. Organia was covered with run down dirty cities that were perfect for avoiding the attention of anyone important. It was located on the fringes of the Klingon Empire and as such was populated by the detritus of Klingon society. There were no beggars lining the streets however, nor was there any evidence of poor or weak. They'd long since been disposed of by the stronger members of the planet. Although Alhana could see the value of doing so, the human side of her nature thought it was rather barbaric. She'd long struggled with the dual nature and instead of facing it, she'd shoved it to the side and focused on her Klingon heritage.

Warm rain fell on the landing party and that was also a welcome occurrence. Alhana couldn't remember the last time she'd felt rain on her face and the experience was refreshing. The atmosphere was heavy with dark cloud and the churning smoke of the few surviving industrial processing plants filled the air. Ch'Tak's operation was run from a warehouse in the worst area of the capital city of Korveq. The warehouse was patrolled by a couple of dirty Klingons carrying weaponry they marked Alhana's approach and signalled to someone inside. Moments later, they were met by a slender Klingon.

"Good to see you back so soon Alhana," he said bowing his head in greeting.

"Kethas," Alhana said, "We're here to speak with Ch'Tak."

"Of course, of course," Kethas said, "Follow me."

Alhana, Tig and Kang entered the building. Inside was a hive of activity, Klingon's were busy moving goods to and from the huge shelves that covered every inch of space. The warehouse itself was in immaculate condition, the exact opposite of its outer appearance. On a platform raised high above the warehouse, stood another Klingon, he was shouting orders and typing details into a console in front of him, "You've been busy." Alhana said.

"Yes, yes we have, Ch'Tak, we have some guests," Kethas said wringing his hands together as he led them up the stairs. Kethas moved to stand next to Ch'Tak and it was only then that you could tell that they were related. Ch'Tak was as huge as Kethas was small; Ch'Tal strong where Kethas was weak yet next to each other, the likeness was striking. They both had the same pattern of ridges on their forehead and the same shaped eyes.

"Alhana! Tig! Kang! Good to see you all once more." Ch'Tal announced. He left his console to butt heads with Tig and Kang, with Alhana, he gripped her forearms firmly.

"Likewise," Tig said.

"You've grown!" Alhana said gesturing to the warehouse.

"Yes! Thanks to Kethas' brains no less. We now run a legitimate business, grown from our humble beginnings." Ch'Tak said. "Enough, what can I do for you?"

"Responding to the ad for transport requirements," Tig replied.

"You still flying that rust bucket?" Ch'Tak said.

"She's far more reliable than you know," Kang said with a growl.

"We've recently undergone some major repair work," Alhana said before Kang had time to get too aggressive, "What did you need moving?"

"Before I agree to anything, I need to know you're clean. I run a legal business now, times have changed Alhana," Ch'Tak said, all trace of joviality had fled his voice and his brow narrowed.

"We're clear of goods and just looking to raise a little cash, nothing wrong with that." Alhana said spreading her hands wide.

"Good. I need a few crates shifting to Regula on the Federation border. Nothing heavy, just some medicinal goods, we make it here and distribute it from there. Our previous shipper had an accident with a faulty plasma coil and we need someone to make the drop while he's getting repaired." Ch'Tak explained

"I feel his pain." Alhana said with a nod.

"Those D-12's eh!" Kethas said.

"It's just the one run and it should be easy. Can you do it?" Ch'Tak asked.

"Money talks Ch'Tek," Alhana said.

"Two hundred and fifty Darsaks should cover it." Kethas said. Ch'Tak returned his attention to his console and shouted at a couple of workers who had begun to idle in the warehouse.

"Four hundred."

"Three hundred."

"Three fifty." Alhana said.

"Three two five."

Alhana nodded, "Done."

"I'll have the details sent to your ship," Kethas said.

"We'll return there and be in touch as soon as we're ready, shouldn't be more than an hour." Alhana said. She raised her watch to her hand and tapped it. "Three to beam up."

"Good working with you again," Ch'Tak said. Alhana gave him a salute as the warmth of the transporter began to engulf her and her two companions. In less than an hour, they were exiting the system and heading towards a new destination. Alhana found herself sat in her chair scanning the communications that had been picked up. There was nothing mentioned about the 'huge man hunt' the Federation had apparently launched to find Khan despite the fact that they'd intercepted several messages from Star Fleet Command. It didn't mean there was space to breathe though; perhaps they wanted her to let her guard down. Going back into Federation space so soon was perhaps not the best idea but it was an easy job. There wasn't much else going on in the quadrant so she turned her attention to looking into the weapons upgrades Kang and Akhil had presented to her.

After the drop off on Regula, they'd be relatively near a couple of star systems where she had contacts for weapons purchasing; one more legitimate than the other but there was no harm in getting in touch. She sent the two missives to her contacts before shutting down her system. It was time to check the cargo and make a final round of the ship before turning in for a few hours.

She left Tig in charge and strode to the cargo bay. Once there, she was pleased to note everything was where it should have been. No one had jumped from one of the crates to take over the ship and the crates were full of the legal medicine Ch'Tak had mentioned. The hold checked, she turned to the engine room and let herself in. The engine turned over contentedly, there were no unexpected clangs or clanks as it sent them on their journey through space. Vrenn and Ranka stood at opposite consoles monitoring their progress. Khan stood at a third console checking over the cloaking device. The sound of them working made her smile, it seemed he'd found a place among the crew. "Everything in order?" she asked.

"Yes Captain," Vrenn said without looking up.

"The new plasma coil is working wonders," Ranka said as she crossed to the engine with a scanner, "Come and see this." Alhana walked over to Ranka and looked at the scanner, all the readings came back nominal, something that had been a rare occurrence until recently. "These readings show that the levels of-"

"Ranka, I don't speak tech-speak. It's enough to know that we're working properly once more." Alhana said raising her hand.

"This is done." Khan said over his shoulder.

"The cloak is up to date?" he nodded in response. "Good. That's all the small tasks taken care of now." Vrenn said, "If anything else comes up, we shall summon you."

Khan nodded before turning to Alhana, "Captain," he said with a nod. Alhana raised an eyebrow.

"Can I help you?"

"Maybe, walk with me a moment," she nodded and together they left the engine room. They cut through the cargo hold and Khan led her into the rec-room. "What is this about Khan?" Alhana said with a yawn.

"I wanted to question why we are heading back into Federation space," he said. He made her sit down and fetched two cups of hot coffee, one he passed to her before sliding opposite her.

"We'll be cloaked and it's on the fringes. It's a small outpost planet that my good friend Ch'Tak has used for a long time," Alhana said wrapping her hands around the mug.

"And you trust this Klingon?" Khan asked as his blue eyes narrowed a fraction.

"I have known him a number of years and worked with him several times in the past. I even saved his life once." Alhana explained, "I have nothing to fear from him." Khan nodded as she spoke.

"I hope not." Khan said. There was restrained rage in his voice and it did something wonderful to the base of her spine.

"Was there anything else?" Alhana asked.

"No."

"Get some rest," she said. Khan nodded and she arose, taking her coffee with her. She glanced back and saw his eyes were still on her as she left. Good. As soon as she was in her own quarters, she locked the door and relaxed. It was good to shut the world away.


	17. Chapter 17

The problem started almost as soon as they entered orbit around Regula. Ch'Tak had neglected to mention that his distribution centre was located under a disruptor field that prevented all beaming in and out. As such, Tig, Kang and Alhana had to beam onto the planet surface outside of the field and walk the rest of the way to the warehouse. If a problem occurred, there would be no quick way out! Regula was essentially a great flying rock in space, what vegetation there was, was stunted, small and insignificant. The atmosphere was breathable, just, but life would never be comfortable here. There wasn't even all that much dust. Just piles of grey rock heaped on grey ground with a sky that was a darker shade of grey. It was all rather dismal if Alhana was honest.

The three walked in comfortable silence towards their destination. The planet didn't have many inhabitants as it was mainly an outpost more than a real settlement; however there seemed to be a fair few people walking around regardless. The track, road was too good a word for it, led to the central group of dwellings on the rock. One of the largest buildings was a warehouse, on the side was the same logo that had been on Ch'Tak's building and one they had seen more than a few times before.

Apparently, the contact's names was Morath and he was supposed to be in charge of the warehouse. When they arrived, he wasn't there, nor was there any record of the delivery being made. "Damn it," Alhana sighed running a hand through her thick hair, why was nothing ever easy? Obviously it was too much to ask to have one job go without a hitch!

"Look, Morath's on his way," said the slender, green skinned Orion girl who worked the front desk at the warehouse, "I'm sure it's just an oversight on Kethas' part. Give it a while and it'll work out fine," she added doing her best to be accommodating.

"It better," Alhana said. She forced her hands to uncurl; instead she paced back and forth. She didn't like this, Kethas was as organised as Klingon's came and had shrewd business sense, that there had been an oversight was highly irregular. Tig and Kang stood looming to one side muttering to each other. She stopped for a moment, arched her fingers and let out a puff of air. She brought her watch to her face and tapped into it. "Khan," she said.

"Yes?" his disembodied voice floated through the link.

"Good, we've hit a snag. We may be here longer than expected so just stand by." Alhana said.

"I don't like it."

"Me neither but not much we can do about it now."

"Keep me informed."

"I'll be in touch," she said before letting her hand drop. The Orion girl looked from Alhana to Tig to Kang and back again before returning to tapping at something on her desk. Tig straightened at the noise, his eyes narrowing. Alhana walked over to him, "What?" she whispered.

"Might be nothing," he said, "Be ready." He strode over to Kang and had a hushed conversation with him as well. The albino's eyes narrowed. Alhana returned to pacing back and forth along the floor. The tapping became unbearable. Tap, tap, tap, her nails on the console in front of her droned on. Alhana sighed. Kang let out a snort. A small click was the only warning they had.

"GET DOWN!" Tig shouted. Alhana hit the floor. Seconds later, the room began to fill with thick smoke. Alhana covered her mouth and nose with her sleeve. The air became full of the dense fog, clouding her ability to see anything. It stank too; the scent filled her nose, making her gag. She reached for the disruptor pistol at her hip and drew it. She could hear the firing of disruptors, and was it phasers as well? The room began to swim as the smoke clawed down her throat. Despite her best efforts, Alhana coughed, sucked in another breath and coughed some more. This wasn't going so well. Every scratched breath forced more smoke into her lungs. Her vision became blurred. She tried to crawl towards the doorway. Too late she thought to tap her watch; she had to let the ship know, had to tell them to get out of there.

"Alhana?" Khan's voice questioned her once more.

She thought she got his name out with some coughing but the world was spinning too much to be completely sure. A foot kicked the disrupter from her feeble grip. Hands grabbed her and the world turned black.

She became aware of the soft bouncing of a scanner. Alhana didn't open her eyes yet, instead used her other senses to find out where she was. This situation was getting more and more familiar by the minute. The bed underneath her was functional yet soft, and raised from the floor likely to about waist height so an attending physician wouldn't have to stoop. The noise the scanner made told her she was in a med bay somewhere. The situation seemed uncomfortably familiar and she knew there wouldn't be a svelte super-human in the bed next to hers this time. She resisted the urge to sigh out her frustration and swallowed; her throat dry.

"Where am I?" she muttered.

"Star Fleet custody." She opened her eyes. Yes, she was in a med bay all right. She heard one of the security officers informing the captain that she was awake. One of the doctors scanned her before jotting something down on a console.

"Fuck," she said in Klingon. The doctor raised an eyebrow. Moments later, the impertinent captain and his Vulcan friend appeared in the med bay. "I thought you were taller." Alhana said addressing the captain with a smirk.

"Here's how it's going to go." Kirk said. Seems like there was going to be no banter this time, just straight to the point, "You're going to give us the location of your ship, you're going to take us there and you're going to contact Khan. You're going to help us get him back into our custody." His face showed no emotion; it would appear that he wanted this done and dusted as soon as possible.

"Now why would I do that?" Alhana asked as she raised a brow.

"Because it's the only way you're going to get your freedom back." Kirk said.

"We have a list of charges to bring against you, not only have you aided a known criminal, you have lied to the Federation. We also have here a list of other crimes you have committed, including murder, theft and smuggling." Spock said. Alhana shivered, a tight knot in the pit of her stomach appeared and her skin prickled. All those charges were true, not that she would admit it to them of course.

"See, after your second set of lies to us, we decided to do some digging of our own." Kirk said. He handed her a hand held screen, which detailed everything they had said, they'd done a thorough job although they had failed to find out about the incident on Midas V, thankfully! She handed it back to him without a word.

"How did you know Khan was with us?" Alhana said. Spock held up her watch.

"It's amazing how angry he gets when it's not you who answers." Kirk said. Alhana rolled her eyes and leaned back into the pillows, she could just picture his face and she was unable to supress a smirk.

"What about Tig and Kang?" Alhana said, pushing all thoughts of Khan from her mind and focusing on her other friends

"The other two who were with you are being held in the brig, they sustained some minor wounds during the conflict but are otherwise fine." Spock said.

"So, you agree to help us?" Kirk asked

"I don't seem to have much of a choice do I," Alhana said. "One condition." Her eyes narrowed as she thought about this, "You give me a minute with Khan after you get him back." The two men turned away from her and talked hurriedly in whispered voices. Alhana gave them a moment before saying, "What harm can it do? I'll admit, over the last few weeks we've become friends and I want time to explain my actions," she kept her head down as she spoke, keeping her voice soft and contrite, "It could be the last time we ever meet." They turned back.

"Very well." Kirk said. Spock's brow twitched.

"Give me that communicator." Alhana said. Kirk handed it to her and her shoulders sagged. Betraying a crewmember was low; maybe she should do the honourable thing and let Khan and the Warbird leave. Let them escape while the three who were captured were left there. Tig and Kang would be distraught they'd been taken in the first place and Alhana was not so removed from her heritage that she didn't feel the sting of shame either. Still, it would be a new level to betray a friend and not one that she considered doing lightly. That's what it came down to, Khan had become a friend over the past few weeks and this felt so wrong. She swallowed, her throat dry, her shoulders sagged and reluctantly, she tapped the communicator.

"Alhana to Warbird," she said. "Khan, we need to talk..."


	18. Chapter 18

Alhana felt every bit the prisoner she was as she walked along the dirt track to the agreed meeting point. She should have been flattered by the amount of security they had posted around her but it did nothing to remove the heaviness she felt. Every step was as though she was walking through thick mud, the closer they got to the meeting point, the more she realised that she did not want to do this. Her palms were sweaty and her heart pounded in her chest. Tig and Kang were walking behind her, dragging their feet just as much as she. The walk seemed to take an age and yet, was over all too quickly. When they arrived at a large boulder, a halt was called.

"This is how it's going to happen." Kirk said. "Sulu and I are going to take the security team and make the exchange. The rest of you, watch these three, make sure they stay where they are." The team of red shirts nodded and followed their orders. Kang waited for about ten seconds before he spoke.

"You're really going to turn him over?" he said in Klingon.

"I don't have a choice," Alhana replied.

"It's a shit thing to do and you-."

"Hey! Stop that jabbering," one of the security team barked. Alhana spat in his direction and he turned away. Tig and Kang both laughed, a short sharp sound that carried little mirth.

"What else can I do?" Alhana said, ignoring the guard's request. The two Klingon's exchanged glances, Tig shook his head.

"Nothing Captain." One of the guards seemed to take offense at their ignoring their command and he come over, waving a phaser at them instead of speaking.

They fell silent, aside from the guard, there didn't seem to be much else to say. They were bound at the wrists and not much they could do about it. These cuffs were much tighter than the ones she's had on before so dislocating her thumb to get away wasn't an option. A breeze picked at Alhana's loose bits of hair and she shivered, it was cold. It seemed to take hours for the deal to be done but eventually footsteps approached. Kirk had Khan surrounded by security officers. His blue eyes landed on Alhana and hardened. She refused to look away from the intensity of his gaze.

"I believe I shall have my watch back," she said to Kirk as he glanced her way.

"Oh," he said. He reached into his pocket and placed it in her bound hand.

"And these," she said. Her eyes never left those of her friend and she hoped he would understand. He undid her hands and she rubbed at her wrists, trying to regain some of the lost circulation. She made sure she shoved her watch in her pocket while he was watching, she left her hands there. "My five minutes?" Kirk nodded. Alhana walked over to Khan, his frown deepened and the look of betrayal on his face stung.

"I have very little to say," he said with barely masked hate in his voice. Alhana swallowed, this was going to be difficult, more difficult now that she stood face to face with him.

"Don't take it to heart," Alhana said keeping her voice low and smooth, not betraying any of the emotion that she was currently feeling. His hands were bound in front of him but he didn't look uncomfortable, just hurt. "I'm going to miss having you on the crew you know."

"You know they intend to kill me don't you? They'll fail but they're going to try anyway." Khan said.

"Do you know what I regret?" she said moving so she stood in front of him. He raised an eyebrow. "That we never really got to finish that conversation the other day."

"Which one was that _Captain_?"

"The one about being a creature of two worlds, I had hoped that would have gone somewhere eventually." Alhana said.

"I guess we'll never know now." Khan said.

"Still," she said, putting her arms around his waist and embracing him. It was not returned. "At least I got to do this much." She slid her hand into his back pocket and gave his firm butt a good squeeze. He didn't react. "Sorry," she whispered.

"Your crew is waiting for you." Khan said. Alhana released him and turned away.

"Tig, Kang, let's go." She said.

"Captain De Torres, it's been a real pleasure." Kirk said.

"I have nothing to say to you," she hissed. She stalked away from them then, making sure she didn't look back. To do so would be to lose her nerve. The three of them crossed the small clearing to where her crew were waiting for them, "Get me off this fucking rock," she demanded as soon as she was close enough.

When she was back on board the Warbird and everyone was settled, Alhana took control of the navigation system. She was half way through plotting her course when a growl made her pause. "How could you do it?" Tavana asked with her hands planted firmly on her hips. The entire crew were on the bridge looking at her.

"Do you think I'm just going to let it go?" she replied.

"What do you mean?"

"Do you honestly think I'd abandon a member of my crew just because someone has some dirt on me? I don't care what the Federation thinks of me, or what they know, they can't do overly much about it anyway… I do care when they threaten my friends." Alhana said as she continued to tap into the console.

"You just let them take Khan." Tavana said.

"And what about Tig? What about Kang? Would you have them left in Star Fleet custody too?" Tavana suddenly didn't look quite so sure of herself now Alhana was explaining herself, "I didn't want that either. Khan is tough; he will survive until we can just beam him out of there. If we're lucky, he may even cause them some damage!"

"Beam him out?" Tavan asked.

"Yup. Take this station Tavana and keep an eye on that frequency, as soon as it begins to change, you let me know." Alhana said. Tavana did as she was asked. Alhana took her own chair.

"What happens now?" This time it was Akhil who spoke.

"We wait."

And wait they did. The minutes crawled by but the console remained impassive. There was no sign of other star ships in the area on the long range scanners and no activity down on the planet. Tig handed Alhana a coffee and dropped into his station. Kang loomed at the back. "It'll work." Alhana said to herself. She bit into her thumbnail as the time passed by, worrying it down until it was too short to bite anymore.

"Stop it." Tig said. She looked up. "You've not done that since our first job, it was annoying then and it is now."

"I didn't realise…" she said letting her hand fall to her lap once more.

"Why don't you go take a shower or do something human-like," he said, "We can monitor this without you being here." Tig said.

"No Tig, this one is my fault. I can't go and relax until we're all back." Tig shrugged and turned back to his station. The soft beep and hum of the equipment did little to soothe her fraught nerves. She set her cold mug on the floor and tapped into her chair.

Suddenly, Tavana's console started beeping. Alhana was out of her seat and over there faster than she'd ever moved before. Tavana budged out the way, letting the captain man the station. She tapped one of the buttons, focusing all her attention on the waves on the screen, "Transporter, prepare to receive incoming transmission," she said not taking her gaze away from the screen. She swallowed hard before jabbing the last button with her finger. Her heart jumped into her mouth as she waited for the order to be carried out. The seconds ticked by. The console clicked. Alhana jumped.

"You need to get down here Alhana," came the garbled voice of Vrenn. Tig automatically stood up and took the chair, Alhana was already moving. She hurled herself through the corridors of the ship and thundered into the transporter room. Khan stood in the transporter room, his face an impassive mask. Blood dripped down his arm and formed a pool on the floor. The corner of his mouth twitched, his eyes rolled in his head and he fell forward. Vrenn dashed forward and caught him before he could hit the floor.

"Bring him to the brig," Alhana said walking forward to help her crewmate carry their unconscious friend.


	19. Chapter 19

It took Khan twenty minutes to regain consciousness and another ten to sit up. During this time, Alhana had watched his cuts seal themselves and begin to knit together; it was a rather disturbing occurrence to witness and raised so many questions. He rolled onto his side and regarded her with cool eyes, "I think I have some explaining to do," Alhana said refusing to break eye contact as she spoke.

"I think I figured it out," Khan said. He pushed himself up into a sitting position and pushed tendrils of black hair from his face, "I was so angry at being betrayed that when you came to say goodbye to me, I was too annoyed to think much about it, it was only afterwards, when I sat down, that your actions towards me became clear, it had something more than mere desire to it," he said. Alhana nodded but couldn't keep the flush from her cheek at the thought of what she'd done. "Of course, I couldn't use the device as that would have alerted Star Fleet to my possession of it and resulted in the removal of it. I suspected it was your communications watch and that it could be used as a tracker, how else could we have beamed out of Star Fleet headquarters the second time we met?" he explained.

"I wanted to tell you but they'd be able to hear me." Alhana said, "I'm sorry that you had to go through that. Are you hurt?"

"Nothing I can't deal with," he said with a small shrug.

"What happened?"

"I cut and ran." Khan said, "I took on their security team, beat them, so Kirk and Spock had to step in. That was a bit more interesting, they tried to hit me with a rock, hence…" he said pointing at the nearly healed cut on his forehead. "I believe that was when you beamed me back on board."

"I'm so sorry," Alhana said again.

"You had Tig and Kang to think of too. I would have done the same… Just answer me one question." Alhana raised her eyebrows, "Why am I in the brig?"

"We have no med bay; it was the only place I could think of to bring you," Alhana said, "The door's open." Khan stood up slowly and left the cell. Alhana had to resist the urge to throw her arms around him in a hug, she wasn't entirely sure if they were ready for such shows yet.

"We should put as many leagues between us and Federation space as we can." Khan said, "And not come back for a long time, they know we are working together now and they'll be looking for us."

"Yes, hand my watch here and I'll get Tig to do that for me. I think a visit to the Empire might be a good idea," Alhana said standing up, "I'll put it to the crew."

"Why don't you rest first?" Khan said.

"I need to see to the needs of the crew first, Khan," she said. She stifled a yawn even as she spoke.

"They won't mind if you take some time. You've been through a lot."

"So have Tig and Kang, they're on the bridge at the moment doing their jobs." Alhana replied, "They'll be every bit as tired as I am." Khan looked as though he was going to say something else but she raised her hand. If he mentioned about her being half human she might well push him back in the cell and lock him in it. She almost laughed at the thought, there was no way she'd be able to do such a thing, he was far too strong. "Coming?" He straightened the black shirt he was wearing and rubbed some of the dried blood from his temple. He fell in beside her and they both walked to the bridge. The noise on the bridge ceased when the door opened and they walked in.

"Welcome back," Tig said getting to his feet. Khan clasped the Klingon's forearms in greeting and even smiled.

"It's good to be here," replied Khan. It took a moment for the crew to make Khan welcome once more before settling back to their roles.

"Where to Captain?" Tig asked.

"We need to break out of Federation space, Khan and I have spoken about it already, they know we're working together and so we need to lay low for a bit." There were nods of affirmation from the crew as she spoke, "I was thinking about going back through the Empire, picking up supplies at Chi'Dan and heading to Balduk, maybe see what we can pick up and look into Romulan space," Alhana said.

"If we're heading to Romulan space, we can call in at Khazara," Emony said. "It's my home world," she added.

"I don't see why not." Alhana said, "If there are any objections, now would be the time." None were forthcoming. "Get that plotted in Tig and we'll see what's available when we get where we're going. For now, we lay low, we fly silent and we escape," she added.

"Slightly obvious there captain," Kang said.

"Been a long day Kang and I'm done in, not sure how you're still functioning either!"

"All of you," Khan said, "Go and sort yourselves out; you're no use tired and irritable. I'm sure myself and the rest of the crew can man the ship without you for a few hours."

"A Klingon does not rest while he is needed." Tig replied.

"And I'm suggesting you're not needed at this time. You need to rest. You need to be your best when we get to Chi'Dan, I have seen how the missions on this vessel go, usually with a lot of fighting and bad luck." Khan said.

"How da-"

"It's true Tig, so don't think of arguing," this time it was Akhil who spoke. Suitably chastised, he nodded.

"Come on Kang," he said gesturing to his friend. Kang followed him off the bridge and the door hissed shut behind them. It was only then that Alhana noticed everyone was looking at her.

"What?"

"That's you too Captain." Khan said. Alhana rolled her eyes and opened her mouth to protest but Khan held up a hand. She shut it again and nodded. The thought of a hot shower and a very long sleep wasn't altogether a bad thing. A yawn escaped her as if to emphasize the thought.

"Very well," she said. She rose, "If anything happens, you come and wake me, do you understand?"

"Of course." Khan replied. Alhana left the bridge then, hoping that leaving Khan in charge was a wise decision. He was a strong leader and he seemed so much more stable than before. Alhana dismissed the thought, knowing they would all be fine. For now, it was enough to be able to get clean and to sleep.

Alhana looked at the cool blue sphere that was Khazara through the viewing screen and smiled. The planet was a welcome distraction from the monotony of deep space. It had taken the best part of two months to reach the destination in Romulan space. The journey had been uneventful, blissfully so. There had been no sign of another star ship since they'd pulled out of Balduk two weeks ago. Everything had gone smoothly. The ship was in fine flying order with a hold full of supplies for the Klingon embassy on Khazara.

Legitimate work, a ship in full order and not being pursued by anyone was making for a welcome change. Even the crew seemed happier in their roles. The work had been going so well, that Alhana had ordered the crew down to the planet surface for some time to themselves. It was only her on board now, she thought she'd find it lonely but it was good to spend some time alone. The soft beeping and clicking of the instruments was comforting, reminding her of a time when being alone on the bridge was not such an uncommon occurrence. She ran her hand along the smooth side before returning to her chair. The chair had moulded to her shape now and was the most comfortable place she had to sit. It may be a bit battered, and the leather was split down the back but it was her chair and the crew knew it.

The bridge door hushed open and Alhana looked round. Khan walked through the door looking thoroughly pleased with himself, "You're still here?" she said.

"I've been sleeping," he replied crossing the bridge and resting behind the chair.

"You should join the crew on the surface," Alhana said, "I don't know when you'll next get chance to stretch."

"Leave you here alone?"

"I don't mind."

"I'll stay."

"Very well but you're forbidden to work, sit, relax and keep me company, just don't work on anything." Alhana said. Khan placed his supple hands on her shoulders and let out a sigh.

"So what shall we do instead?" he said giving her shoulders a squeeze. Alhana took a deep breath. His fingers sent waves of heat through her and she suppressed a shiver. "What were you doing all alone up here?" his voice was little more than a whisper close to her ear.

"Pondering when this place was last cleaned," she murmured, showing him the dirt that rubbed off onto her hand.

"Cleaning could be seen as working, we need to do something else instead."

"True. We could fight?"

"Not today." Khan said removing his hands, "You're bruised enough as it is."

"We could drink," Alhana suggested looking up into his bright blue eyes.

"Are you sure you can handle the consequence of lowered inhibitions?" Khan said raising an eyebrow.

"How about exchanging insults to see who the best is? It's a well-known Klingon pastime!" Alhana said.

"How silly." Khan replied.

"Well, have you any ideas?" she said sitting forward and turning to look at her companion. He raised an eyebrow and she flushed. He leaned over the back of the chair and held his hand in front of her face, poised millimetres from her cheek. She noticed how it trembled slightly. She smiled. The very tips of his fingers brushed her skin before he curled his hand into a fist and snatched it away. Alhana let out a held breath. "No ideas then?" His top lip quivered and for a moment, she thought he was going to seize hold of her. Instead, he turned away

"No," he said. Alhana shrugged, turned back to sitting normally in her chair and punched into the console, "I hope that's not working." Khan said over his shoulder.

"Not at all, it's reading."

"What is it?" Khan asked.

"It's the English language version of Oliver Twist," she said.

"Really? You're actually reading that?" Khan said screwing his face up.

"In absence of a suitable distraction, what else would you suggest?" she ran her eyes over his lean form before settling back on his eyes. Khan shook his head although there was a smile on his face.

"I see what you mean." Khan said, "I'll re-join you presently." He left the bridge then and Alhana returned to her book. She heard the door open once again shortly after but didn't look up; she already knew who it was. She heard him settle into one of the other chairs and get comfortable.

The scent of coffee hit her nose and she was instantly jealous, although not jealous enough to get up and get her own cup. She could ask Khan to fetch one for her, order him to do it, but that would be unfair. Her legs were capable. She swung round in her chair and stole glances at him while he was buried in his own book. His black hair was now neatly tied at the nape of his neck; she could imagine herself grabbing hold of it and tugging on it, pulling his head upright to look at her. She also knew where that would lead, a path not yet ready to be trod.

His bright blue eyes scanned the pages he was reading yet she knew he would be aware of her scrutiny. His face was narrow, something she had found odd before, it was strange how things could grow on you the more you got used to them. His mouth formed the words as he read; she glanced at the title – Paradise Lost in Klingon. No wonder he was mouthing the words. He'd thrown his long legs over the side of the chair and was lounging leisurely, the very picture of comfort. "Do I still pass?" he asked without looking up.

"Did you ever think you were going to fail?" Alhana said. The corner of his mouth tugged up in a smile and he continued reading. "We've come a long way in these past few weeks you know."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I wanted to beat you senseless after the first time we met," Alhana explained, "And look at us now."

"True, now you're trying to puzzle out exactly how you feel about me rather than wanting to give me a thrashing, which incidentally, you'd not be able to do." Khan replied. "Oh don't get grumpy; we both know it's true."

"I never tried to deny it. I know better." Alhana said. She was pretty sure she'd worked out how she felt about him now but there was no way she was going to give in easily. She returned to her book and silence descended between them. Not the awkward silence of strangers but the comfortable silence of friends. Time lengthened and passed while she read the tale of the orphan boy. It didn't make that much sense to her but it was good practice regardless. Alhana only became aware of how much time had passed when the communicator system whirred to life.

"Tig to Warbird," came the voice of her first officer.

"Here Tig."

"Mind beaming us back Captain?"

"That time already?"

"Yes."

"Three of you?"

"Yes."

Alhana tapped at the console. Moments later, she was joined by Tig, Tavana and Akhil. Khan swung out of the chair he had occupied, Akhil took her station and tapped into it. "The others will be back in a couple of hours," Tig said.

"Excellent," Alhana said, "I'll get in touch with the embassy about taking the cargo back when they are." Tig nodded. "Looks like it's back to work for us," she added. Khan smiled, it would be good to be on the move once more.

 **That's that then folks, rewrite done! If you enjoyed this one, it had a continuation - The Klingon War - which will also be getting a re-write and finishing as well!**


End file.
